Dream turns into reality

By Kate Northrop

CHICORA, Pa. — A Pennsylvania couple that has experienced a myriad of hardships can now afford to take a dream trip to Alaska after winning $3 million in the lottery.

A Pennsylvania woman is looking forward to fulfilling her husband's dream of visiting Alaska after she won a $3 million top prize from a scratch-off ticket.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Lottery presented a commemorative check to the woman who won a $3 million top prize in the $30 "$3 Million Diamonds and Gold" scratch-off game at Rummy Mart on South Main Street in Chicora. There, the Lottery was able to speak to the winner to learn more about how this prize will create cherished memories that she and her husband can look back on with great fondness.

The winner is 50-year-old Penny Reep, who recalled the moment she broke out in tears upon revealing a top prize underneath the ticket's surface.

"I had a dentist appointment in Butler that Monday and stopped at Rummy Mart to exchange some winning tickets," Reep told the Lottery. "I bought one of the $10 tickets and the $30 ticket. I scratched the $30 ticket and thought, 'I'm not seeing this right.' When I scanned it, it said, 'Congratulations, you won $3 million.' I grabbed the counter and started crying. I had chest pain and it felt like my feet were coming out from underneath of me."

She purchased the ticket on Oct. 16 and claimed it a few days later on Oct. 19.

"I'm in disbelief," she related. "It still doesn't seem real."

Reep said that the win could not have come at a better time.

"My husband has a very rare form of cancer and it's not curable," she explained. "We don't know how long we have with him. He's no longer able to work and I've been trying to take care of him, but I'm also having health problems."

Not only will the prize provide some much-needed relief, but it will give them the opportunity to fulfill her husband's longtime dream of visiting Alaska.

"It was always a pipe dream," Reep said. "Now, I'm going to be able to give him everything he's always wanted."

"We are going to stay the same people," she added. "We will continue living in our house and invest the money, but now we will have memories for a lifetime."

There is now one top prize of $3 million remaining in the $30 "$3 Million Diamonds and Gold" game, which launched in July 2022. There are also three second-tier prizes of $300,000 and eight third-tier prizes of $30,000 left to claim.

The retailer that sold the winning ticket, Rummy Mart, will also receive a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery.