James Spray Jr. of Brevard tried his luck on a new holiday scratch-off ticket and won a $150,000 prize.
Spray became the first to win one of the four top prizes on the $5 Holiday Cheer ticket. He bought his lucky ticket from the One Stop on Old Hendersonville Highway in Brevard.
“It was a very, very blessed day,” Spray said Wednesday as he claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.
After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $106,126.
The Holiday Cheer game launched this month. Three top prizes of $150,000 remain to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-offs like Holiday Cheer make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million a year for education. For details on how money raised by the lottery made a difference in Transylvania County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.