A North Carolina man celebrated his 31st wedding anniversary with a $100,000 lottery win, the NC Lottery announced in a news release.
Cherryville resident Jeffrey Douglas received a welcome surprise when he plunked down $50 for a Ten Million Dollar Spectacular scratch-off ticket at Lincolnton’s Times Turn Around on Sunday, Aug. 17. The day also happened to be his 31st wedding anniversary. After revealing the numbers, Douglas was astonished to find he’d won the $100,000 pot. Appropriately, the first thing Douglas did was text his wife a picture of the winning ticket.
“I texted her a picture of the ticket and she said, ‘Call me,’” Douglas recalled. “It was pretty awesome,” he added. “It’s a blessing.” One commenter voiced what everyone is certainly thinking: “Congrats, that’s an awesome anniversary gift!”
On Aug. 19, Douglas headed to the North Carolina lottery headquarters to collect his prize in one lump sum. After state and federal tax withholdings, the lucky winner went home with $71,764. He says he plans to put some of the money into his tree-cutting business and use the rest to help out his various family members. “Do you know how many trees you have to cut to win this much money,” he joked.
The Ten Million Dollar Spectacular offers prizes from $100,000 to $20 million, with a number of chances to win. There are five top prizes of $10 million, and 20 prizes each of $1 million and $100,000. There remains to be claimed one $10 million prize, two $1 million prizes, and two $100,000 prizes.
