Ruby McCollum of Clemmons said she plans to get her husband of 54 years a new leather chair with her $200,000 lottery prize.
“The one he has is so worn out,” McCollum said. “My husband doesn’t agree with me. He says he’s happy with it the way it is. But now I’m going to get him a new one.”
McCollum’s good fortune happened when she stopped at Carlton’s Hampton Road Grocery on Hampton Road in Clemmons and bought a $500 Loaded scratch-off ticket. When she saw the matching numbers, she couldn’t believe it.
“I always wondered what it would feel like to win,” McCollum said. “Now I know. It feels wonderful!”
McCollum claimed her prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $141,501.
The $5 ticket launched in May with five top prizes of $200,000. Two top prizes remain.
Ticket sales from games like $500 Loaded make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.