PIQUA, Ohio — New vehicles and new houses are on the horizon for many of the 15 multimillionaires in town.
Even more important is the security they want the money to bring to their families, winners of the $207 million Mega Millions lottery said as their identities were revealed Wednesday, Dec. 17.
"My mom, she won't stop crying. My sister, she won't stop crying," said Jolaine Routson, 46, a Piqua city Parks and Recreation department worker.
She's one of 14 city workers and one worker's father-in-law who held the winning ticket to the Friday, Dec. 12 drawing. The winners — with large smiles on their faces — were met with cheers and applause as they made their first public appearance.
The group chose a lump sum payment of $146,851,243, or $101,327,359 after payment of federal and state taxes. Fourteen winners each will receive an after-tax check for about $6.3 million. The 15th winner, Richard Donnelly, 58, had two shares in the pool after throwing in an extra buck for his mother.
"We played and played and played. It came through," Donnelly said.
He'll collect around $12.6 million, and his 90-year-old mother will get a new car.
Donnelly, the sole employee in the traffic department, will work at least until someone else knows the job: "I don't want to leave them cold."
Piqua Mayor Tom Hudson said he's known some of the winners all of his life. "This has been a blessing in our community already. What a great time, at Christmas," Hudson said.
Thomas Hill Jr., 72, the father-in-law of an employee, said he and his wife plan to set up a scholarship in the name of their son, who died of cancer at age 27.
"The first thing I'm going to buy I never had — a brand new vehicle," said Loyal Davis Jr., 41.
The group purchased its winning ticket, a $5 wager using the Lottery's auto-pick feature, at a Kroger store in Piqua, about 30 miles north of Dayton.
"I've always said I'll never get to retire even when I'm old enough," said Jolaine Routson, 46. "So this is just like a new thought process."
The win marks Ohio's third jackpot of the year in the multi-state Mega Millions game. It's the state's third-largest jackpot win since joining the game in 2002.
Lottery winners now able to provide for their families
Playing the Mega Millions lottery twice a week for more than five years means financial security, retirements and weddings for some of the 15 winners of the $207 million jackpot.
Jolaine Routson, 46, a Piqua city Parks and Recreation department worker, said she'll continue working in a job she loves. The thrill of winning was "to know you can actually take care of your parents who raised you and worked so hard," she said.
Her two brothers and a sister also will be taken care of, Routson said, adding, "They are first, before anything."
Co-worker Cynthia Hershberger, 45, is retiring to spend more time with family and to volunteer. She is buying her mother a house.
"To be able to help your family ... It's a great feeling to know you can help people," Hershberger said.
The winners range in age from 30-year-old Amos Steinbrunner of Coldwater to Thomas Hill Jr., 72, of Piqua, father-in-law of street department employee and fellow winner Loyal Davis Jr., 41.
All live in Piqua except Steinbrunner and Clifford Helman, 37, of Bradford.
Hill and his wife, Brenda, will set up a scholarship fund for Piqua High School in honor of their son, Steve Hill, a 1980 Piqua Central High School graduate and school teacher in Indiana, who died of cancer at age 27. Steinbrunner, employed by the city only two months, will be married in April.
"Right now. I'm in shock ... I am going to take it day by day to see how everything goes ... It can change all of my family's lives," he said.
After discovering early Saturday the group had won, Davis notified each winner. Wearing a Santa Claus hat Wednesday, he talked about the reactions, including screams and disbelief.
Fourteen employees of the City of Piqua, and one relative of a city worker claimed the $207 million Mega Millions jackpot that hit on Friday Dec. 12 at the Kroger store in Piqua. Fourteen of the winners will receive a check for approximately $6.3 million, and one winner who bought two shares will receive a check for $12.6 million.
Richard Donnelly (from left), Loyal Davis and Arthur Rudy celebrate their winnings during a press conference at Fort Piqua Plaza on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Davis was the one who purchased the winning ticket. Fourteen employees of the city of Piqua and one relative of a city worker claimed the $207 million Mega Millions jackpot.
Congrats to the lucky winners!
The guy in the Santa Hat
"I'm the King of the World" comes to mind. Shoot.... I get that feeling if I only win $3 dollars, $7 dollars.
....stuff like that
$5 wager? They collected $5 a person? Or just $5 total? I thought I read somewhere it was $1 a person.
WOW! See!? It don't take a lot of $$ to win!!!!!!!!!
Hope it grows again!
Congrats to the winners! ALL of em!
Congrats to them all! They are very lucky.
Congratulations to all the Ohio winners.
Another article says they bought tickets at multiple locations. They presumably won with a ticket that had 5 plays on it, and had 11 plays on other tickets.
its always nice when big groups win, i wish it was my group, next time!!!!!
Congrats to the winners!,
Just in time for Christmas. I hope no when in the group invests with Bernard Madoff. 
I just love the group shot of all 15 of them — that's a lot of positive energy in one room!
Simply beautiful! What a Christmas blessing in this time of hardship!
"He'll collect around $12.6 million, and his 90-year-old mother will get a new car."
Next time I'm driving near Piqua, I'll watch out for a candy apple red Dodge Viper convertible.
Wow, a lot of lotto winners today are large groups. I think that's great!! Bad for the company though.... buy hey, more opening jobs :)
Congratulations to the winners. I also like to see large groups win. that group must let people come in and out of group at various times. I can't get over the one person putting in a dollar for his mother and collecting 12 million. of course, I'd be happy with 1 million (after taxes). smile.
don't want to be: Big Hat no Cattle.
Just seeing that picture of all the winners with their big smiles brings a big smile to my face. Merry Christmas Piqua Ohio!
Congrats to the group! Hopefully all of them will do exactly what my uncle in NJ did 5 years ago when he won the lottery. His after-tax check was for $6.7 million, and put away $5 million in low risk CDs @ 4% - 5%, and used the remaining $1.7 million to help relatives with mortgages and other bills. He is currently collecting around $220k a year from the CDs (or slightly more than $18k a month). He told me recently that he has more than enough money each month despite owning 3 cars and two homes.
Hi Naijaman!
Thanks for sharing that!
Your uncle is making it work for him and that's great!
Congrats to the lucky winners!
Congratulations to the winners!
They should have remained anonymous, since Ohio allows winners to remain anonymous through a trust. However, it is usually difficult for a group of winners to remain anonymous. That is why I buy lottery tickets alone, and I will wait until I travel to a state that allows winners to remain ANONYMOUS!
Definitely a good plan!
What a great time for a win, right before the holidays
I am happy for them and I do hope that invest the money well for their futures. I still don't understand why they must go public - to me, that seems like total madness. US state laws should changed to allow lottery winners the right to anonymity. That is the case here in NSW, and it works well. We have one of the best run lotteries in the world and winners are not badgered by the media for "friends".
I don't understand why US lotteries require winners to go public - that's crazy. Here in NSW, winners have a right to anonymity and most choose it, it is very rare for winners to go public. The NSW lottery is one of the best run lotteries in the world, the Yanks could learn from Australia.
Lottery winners in Ohio have claimed their winnings anonymously before by creating a trust. These winners probably didn't feel the need to do so since family and friends knew who they were. After the jackpot is divided among them and each share their potion with their family, they probably won't have enough left to attract the many con artists who's hoping to get rich.
They might have been in a hurry and didn't want to set up a trust. I could understand why. They were all probably really excited about the win.
They can still set up individual trusts (some of them may already have done so) for the financial benefits, but claiming anonymously would have been mostly meaningless in this case. When a ticket for $146 million is sold in a town of 20,000 and most of the town highway department quits within a month, how much of a secret is it going to be?
Lol, that's true. It wouldn't have stayed a secret for long.
HAPPY SUNDAY...12/21.....
.............................May I also offer my sincerest congrats to the winners.......they played they deserve to win.......my only question is......Whats with "OHIO".....3 Jackpots in one year??...And on qik pik...I live between Maryland, Washington and Virginia........we never win Jackpots like that....if we win PB or MegaMillion Jackpots it' s thru our personal numbers......;...) and thats as Rare as a Blue Moon in those states..........What is ist about OHIO, PA, and INDIANA....??.....
Surprisingly California, Texas & New York, (the 3 largest states and 80 Million in population out of the 158 million in the mega states) have only shared 1.5 jackpots with California not getting one this year.
Michigan had three also, as did Georgia. But Ohio and Georgia's total JPs were a lot bigger when you add up the amounts.
MegaMillion winners, regardless of where they live, probably don't think of their wins as their state winning. They are thinking they've played the game long enough and spent enough that it's their time to win or be lucky.
That's what I like about these types of games over scratch-off or raffle type of games. There's no plans to spread the wealth around so anyone can win if they have the right combination regardless of where the last winner lived.