Lottery winner plans to live life the way he did before winning big
Wednesday, May 09, 2007 posted 03:09 AM EDT
Shawn Eddy clears $682,000 from $10 lottery ticket. Rhinelander’s newest millionaires can’t stop smiling.
Shawn Eddy and Kelly Blackwell, sweethearts for the last 15 years, suddenly have a nice nest egg and the world at their feet.
At a press conference Monday morning celebrating his win, Eddy said he learned that he was the holder of lucky number 165681 (the winning ticket for Wisconsin Lottery’s Million Dollar Draw game) last Wednesday when he read in The Daily News that the winning ticket was sold in Rhinelander.
“It said the winning ticket was sold at Citgo and I thought ‘I buy my tickets at Citgo’ so I grabbed my ticket and checked the numbers,” he said.
Eddy says as soon as he realized he had the correct six numbers he went flying out of his house in wild celebration.
“I ran out to my front yard, jumping up and down and screaming,” he said.
Blackwell says her first response to the good news was sheer disbelief.
“I didn’t believe it and I still don’t really believe it,” she said. “It’s still sinking in.”
Eddy and Blackwell, who are both Rhinelander natives and graduates of Rhinelander High School, say they are going to take their time deciding how to spend the money (it’s already in the bank, Eddy said) and don’t intend to leave their jobs. Eddy received $682,000 after taxes.
“Actually, we’re kind of excited to get back to work tomorrow,” Eddy said, grinning from ear to ear.
Ironically, Eddy is currently working on Lincoln Street, just down the way from the Citgo station where he purchased his winning ticket.
A construction worker, Eddy is part of the crew putting up the new Kohl’s store.
Blackwell works as a cashier at a local retail store.
A regular player of the lottery, Eddy says he bought the Million Dollar Draw ticket at the end of March, along with about $10 worth of other lottery tickets.
“I had the ticket for about a month,” he said, adding that he “sort of forgot” about the actual drawing.
Eddy said the drive from Rhinelander to Madison to cash the winning ticket was a bit nerve-wracking.
“We wanted to make sure nothing would happen to the ticket,” Eddy said.
Andrew Bohage, operations director for Wisconsin lottery, said when the ticket was validated Eddy “smiled, laughed and sighed very, very deeply.”
Since he was announced as the winner of Million Dollar Draw, Eddy says his phone has been ringing off the hook. There are so many messages on his answering machine from well-wishers, he hasn’t had time to return them all, he said, adding that he and Blackwell went camping over the weekend to relax.
Rob Johnson, district supervisor for Krist Oil (owner of the Citgo station), said Krist Oil is thrilled that a $1 million lottery ticket was sold in the Northwoods and hopes Rhinelander becomes a lottery “hot spot” like the so-called “Miracle Mile” in Fond du Lac where lottery fans have purchased several winning tickets worth large sums.
Bohage presented Johnson with a commission check for $20,000 for selling the winning Million Dollar Draw Ticket.
Bohage said lottery retailers who sell winning tickets with prizes of $600 or more earn two percent of the prize, up to a maximum of $100,000 per winning ticket.
Next up for Eddy and Blackwell is a trip to Disneyworld, planned before the lottery win, and then, hopefully, a return to normalcy.
“I got a call from a friend out east who said ‘just take it slow’ so that’s what we’re trying to do,” Eddy said, “Just take it slow, I think that’s good advice.”
A final word for anyone hoping to join Eddy and Blackwell in the Rhinelander millionaire’s club, Bohage said it’s not a done deal yet but Million Dollar Draw may return, in some form, sometime during 2008.
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