Georgia Lottery: Lucky grandparents strike it big in Ga. lottery
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Apparently, it pays to be a grandparent.
The latest big winners in the Georgia Lottery have a combined 17 grandchildren between them.
Brenda Lee, 60, who works at a lawn-mower assembly plant, won $500,000 in the instant game Jumbo Bucks. The Statesboro woman bought the ticket at Ambe Food Mart and scratched it in her car.
"I called my daughter and asked her to come quickly because I couldn't drive," said Lee, who has two children and four grandchildren. "I also showed the clerk. I just couldn't believe it.
"I'm still in shock."
Lee and her husband, Bobby, plan to pay off bills and spend time with their family.
In picking his lottery numbers, Harold Weaver had plenty of family birthdays to choose from: the 68-year-old Savannah man has four children and 13 grandchildren.
Weaver came up with the right combination, matching all five winning numbers in a Fantasy 5 drawing to net $177,019.
"My heart started beating fast," Weaver said, recalling his reaction when he checked the Georgia Lottery's website. "I had to calm myself down."
Weaver and his wife, Margaret, plan to buy a new computer and take a vacation.
The winning ticket was sold at Dhrumil Food Mart, located at 12500 White Bluff Road in Savannah.
The Georgia Lottery also announced that Robert Wainberg, a 55-year-old biology professor at Piedmont College, won $1,000 a week for a year by matching five of six numbers plus the Free Ball in a Win for Life drawing.
That ticket was sold at the Circle M Food Shop, 4504 Cornelia Highway in Lula.
"This is a nice feeling," Wainberg said.
Also, an Americus man won $50,000 on his 46th birthday in the instant game Jumbo Bucks Classic. Ellis Wilson, a maintenance worker, said he planned to celebrate by having a steak dinner with his family.