Judith Zahn, 59, of Hatfield today claimed the winning $20 million ticket in the Massachusetts Lottery's Star Spangled Sweepstakes drawing on Wednesday.

Zahn, a nurse at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, received a $14 million check today after deducting for taxes, said Beth Bresnahan, spokeswoman for the lottery.

The lucky winner received the check at the Lottery's headquarters in Braintree.  She appeared with her husband Steve, 56, a 26-year patrolman in Amherst and her daughter Hannah, 27.

Zahn bought the ticket at the Hatfield Market.  She walked into the store last month and the store owner asked her if she bought a sweepstakes ticket. "The rest is history," Bresnahan said.

Zahn said that she probably would not have bought the ticket without prompting from the store owner.

The store owner, Fran Frew, will receive $200,000 before taxes as a commission for selling the winning ticket.

Two other people from Western Massachusetts, Theresa Michalczyk of Ludlow and Raymond Dion of West Springfield, each won $250,000 tickets in the sweepstakes, two of 40 such winners across the state, she said.

The Ludlow woman bought her ticket at Randall's Farm in Ludlow and Dion bought his at the E-Zee Mart in West Springfield, she said.

Someone also bought a $1 million ticket at the Stop N' Shop in Westfield, one of 10 $1 million prizes, she said.

wow  14 million  a  nice  paycheck  for  her  years  of  playing  the  lottery ...but  so  much  to  one  person  ...I  would  like  a  lottery  to  award 10,000- $250,000  prizes  at  5.00  per  ticket ; 

They already have tons of games like that -- they are called scratch games! 

If the raffles awarded prizes no bigger than a second-place Mega Millions prize, they would not sell too many tickets.  Then there would be no raffle at all!