A Millbury woman who won the $7 million grand prize in the state’s first raffle game hid her winning ticket in a thermos and reported to work at a grocery store before surprising her kids with the good news this week.

Yesterday, Kathleen Crewe, 57, broke the news to her son and daughter that she’s one of the state’s newest millionaires.

After the New Year’s Eve drawing, she slipped the $20 ticket into a thermos and packed that safely inside a fire-resistant bag, according to the state Lottery. She brought her kids to the Lottery’s Braintree headquarters yesterday to claim her prize once it reopened after the long holiday weekend.

The overwhelmed lottery winner, who said her full address was printed in her hometown paper, declined to be interviewed when reached at work today, as did a manager at Goretti’s Market in Millbury, where Crewe is the store controller and purchased the ticket.

She told lottery staffers she was “absolutely stunned” and planned to use some of the cash to help her mother complete home repairs.

The game’s second place winner, Ronald Tiemann, 47, of Plymouth, landed a $1 million prize. Tiemann, his wife and mother-in-law all purchased tickets and checked the winning numbers together. The self-employed IT specialist and father of two told the Lottery he plans to put some of the cash toward his daughter’s college fund and send his mother-in-law on an Italian vacation.

Crewe and Tiemann were not the only winners who showed up at lottery offices yesterday to collect their lump sum winnings. The lottery announced that there were 1,022 winners in the game, including 20 who won $50,000 each and 1,000 people who won prizes of $1,000.

Source:  http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/202201047m_lottery_winner_hid_ticket_in_thermos/srvc=home&position=5