When Ronald Shuey learned that he and his co-workers won the lottery in 1987, he imagined himself buying a shiny black Jaguar.
Sheri Charney started planning her new house.
Connie Connolly's husband thought he could buy a fancy boat.
Many were too excited to sleep the night of Oct. 21, 1987. The next morning, the 17 employees of the former Herman Avenue Elementary School in Lemoyne celebrated with coffee, doughnuts and fruit in the teachers lounge. Don't all lottery winners dream?
"It was surreal," recalled Deb Rundall of Lewisberry, then a first grade teachers.
Then, the winners got a dose of reality. They learned that their shared $1 million plus Super 7 lottery jackpot would be paid out over 25 years.
The annual $59,150.97 group payment would be reduced to $47,320.78 after Uncle Sam took a hefty 20 percent or $11,830.19. Each winner would get a $2,783.57 annual check, $231 a month. Suddenly, their dreams weren't quite in reach.
Everyone thought we were going to be millionaires," said Rebecca Hedden of Fairview Township, then a first grade teacher. "We weren't. Nobody quit their jobs. But every October, we got our checks."
Group members, dubbed "The Herman Avenue Super 7teen," reminisced Sunday about their experience during a party hosted by Hedden. Members will receive their final check on Monday.
Shuey said the group began buying lottery tickets in September 1986. The late Frank Diehl, school custodian, used to collect the lottery money and buy tickets on Tuesdays.
"Each of us would pay $5 a week, which was a lot in 1987," Hedden said. "Each of us would pick numbers for one of the tickets."
The group won with numbers picked by Connolly, who lives in Monroe Twp. and now is South Middleton School District director of special education.
"The day I picked the winning numbers, Frank was in a hurry when he stopped by to see me during a planning period," said Connolly, then a special-education teacher. "I picked my birthday and my husband's. Frank said, 'Just circle anything,' and that's what I did. I didn't give it another thought and I didn't watch the drawing."
Later that night, members began calling one another with news of their victory. Connolly thought her friends "were just yanking my chain." Her husband, however, took the news seriously.
"Tom was all excited," she said. "He wanted to buy a boat until he found out that it wasn't enough money."
Shuey said that his imagination "ran wild" when he heard of the win. He pictured himself in a shiny black Jaguar.
Charney, then a second-grade teacher and now a first-grade teacher at York Haven Elementary School, said she "thought we hit it big. I wanted to go out and buy a new house."
Cecelia Lyden of Camp Hill, then an art teacher, hadn't had the chance to pay Diehl $5 for her share before the winning ticket was bought. She said that he had paid her share, then reminded her after the win that she owed him $5.
Some of the winners had more practical dreams. Rundall and Larry Foose of Duncannon, then a third-grade teacher, each bought a piano for their families. Charney said she still uses the money for Christmas shopping. Others spoke of getting carpeting and kitchen appliances.
The group wore blue sweatshirts with a "Herman Avenue Super 7teen" logo when they received their award from lottery officials. They arranged for the West Shore Teachers Federal Credit Union to receive the annual payment and split it 17 ways.
Then, then went back to school.
"We didn't become millionaires," Foose said. "But this money has been a nice little bonus each year."
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They need to be like the homeless man who scored $200k from a $10 scratch ticket.
Take their last check and cruise the state, scooping up scratchers from every town.
Good fortune favors the bold.
At least they can say, "Winning the lottery did not change my life" and actually be able to prove it.
Sorry to hear that their "extra" money dissapears this month.
I am sure that all of those teachers were thankful for whatever amount they got each year. Every little bit helps.
That was good $$ back then. These days it would cover your cell phone bill.
From elation to let-down....if I did the math right they won $7.64 a day.....
That would pay for my IMAX movie pass and popcorn.
LOL. That monthly check IS close to my cell phone bill...... lol. lol. lol.
They can be thankful that Uncle Sam only took 20% taxes back then instead of the 35% that the government takes today and the 75% that Obama wants to start taking!
Where do you get such info from ? ( 75 %)
Haven't you been paying attention for the past 4 years?Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich and give it to the poor.He ran on the "I'll redistibute the wealth" slogan in 2008 and if re-elected I don't see him going back on his word,do you?
But he hasn't/ didnt do so in the last 4yrs , why would he do it now? 75% is pretty harsh , i highly doubt that .
2nd term = lame duck.
He's a democrat.He can't help himself.It's in his DNA to tax & spend.
hope you don't get butter, that may be extra
5 dollars a week was a lot in 1987? lmao maybe 1987 bc
They charge $8 per squirt of that crappy "butter".
I usually get about 12 squirts, just $96 extra.
That's a pretty good deal in my area. In the New Jersey, New York area, they charge as much as $25 per squirt.
$2,783.57 annual check is gone
It sure's gonna feel like a paycut. Its not much but is better than nothing and the winners are soon to find out
lol , 17 people win a $1 mill prize, and all plan boats, cars and houses, aint they teachers? what no math skills.
oh dear im still wiping away the tears.... from laughter.
Really? Seventeen people thought that dividing up a million dollars would make them all millionaires?
Let's hope some of them spent whatever they got to get a G.E.D.
.... They're teachers...
Maybe they had no calculators way back in 1987?
That would explain their poor math computations. Yes I'm sure that had to be it now.
Come to think of it, we didn't have TV's back then either. I think we had Beta VCR's though.
Beans on a table would have been sufficient.....
Did they have beans back in 1987?
Did they have tables?
Beans AND tables....... Thats how I learned math.......
They made us do it in our heads.
I think they called that "old school"
Sucks though that we had no beans or calculators.
Oh yeah... you were way before my time...... Growing up in Ohio they told us that bean counters were in high demand in Detroit and it was a big move up knowing how to count using beans.......
That would have been like having an Apple iPhone 5, or the Samsung Galaxy Tablet.
You were very cool to have one of those bean counters.
"Everyone thought we were going to be millionaires," said Rebecca Hedden of Fairview Township, then a first grade teacher."
Let's see, $1.5 million divided by 17 equals $2 million?
Wonder how many of them hired a financial adviser to show them the best way to invest $231 a month.
Starbucks in the morning and Starbucks in the evening. That's what they each won.
"looking back "one commented " i wish i hadnt blown that money on coffee and donuts celebrating "
my old grand pappy used to say " back in my day we could buy a new ford for $200, of course we only got paid a nickel, so they where <snip>ed expensive."
then he'd laugh like a crazy old man.
I'm guessing it's a place that's warm, dark, and damp.
Maybe the ones who were planning the life of Riley didn't understand the game they were paying to play..maybe they thought
they'd each get $1 Million...even though there was only 1 up for grabs.
17 people in a pool playing each draw?...Maybe they even had a time machine which threw them right back to 1987 to collect
when they won it in 2012. Who the hell participates in a pool full of potential winners when the jackpot amounts to a walloping $231
per month? Let me play alone and collect alone.
So technically Starbucks won the lottery.
Well, Ronnie316, it was good to have a goal/objective/purpose those years.
"The day I picked the winning numbers, Frank was in a hurry when he stopped by to see me during a planning period," said Connolly, then a special-education teacher. "I picked my birthday and my husband's. Frank said, 'Just circle anything,' and that's what I did. I didn't give it another thought and I didn't watch the drawing."
She did in 1987 what is known as the "Donald" in 2012.
Her $231 goes towards bandages as I am sure she's still kicking herself thinking how much she and her hubby would have had if they'd played on their own.
The "Donald" only works for a very select few.
I was so happy to know that a group of teachers won a lotery jackpot, but at the same time saddened when I read that their expectations of being one of the many millionaires banished due to Uncle Sam's share on the winnings.
These people may have been enjoying their winning for 25years and now it will soon come to an end. How sad to know that by next year, no more checks will be claimed...
They should go to Vegas and use that last check to play some blackjack or roulette. Bet on red.