Anthony Resident Finds Forgotten Ticket worth $10,000
TOPEKA, KAN. - According to Juli
Lewis, she has a bad habit of purchasing lottery tickets and not
checking them for several days or weeks. When the Anthony
resident came across a Powerball ticket inside of a suitcase, she
figured she better have it checked in case it was a winner.
And, she's glad she did. The ticket was worth
$10,000!
"When I stopped at the grocery store Saturday, I asked a store
clerk to check my ticket," explained Lewis. "When she scanned
it the lottery machine read, "Return ticket to player. Claim at
Lottery.' Neither one of us had seen that before, so the
clerk asked another employee to check my ticket. When she
scanned the ticket and got the same message, they looked up the
winning numbers on the Lottery's website. That's when we discovered
I had won $10,000! Everyone screamed and shouted for
me. It really made it a fun experience."
Lewis matched four numbers plus the Powerball, winning the cash
prize. If one of her numbers, 02, been reversed to 20, she
would have won the jackpot for matching all numbers. The
winning numbers for the March 10 drawing were 05, 14, 17, 20, 41
Powerball 05. Lewis' winning numbers were 02, 05, 14, 17, 41
Powerball 05.
"Too bad my numbers weren't reversed," joked Lewis.
"Winning a jackpot would have been great, but I'm still very happy
to have won $10,000. I buy $2 worth every Wednesday and Saturday. I
figure it only takes $2 to win. At the very least, it gives you
hope. If you don't play, you'll never win."
Lewis, who plans to retire in May after 29 years of teaching,
has two children and two grandchildren. The 65-year-old plans
to purchase a new jungle gym set for her grandchildren with her
winnings and the rest she said would go toward a new truck.
The winning ticket was purchased at Casey's
General Store 1345, locates at 1402 E.
6th in Emporia.