This province has 31 new millionaires following the presentation of Atlantic Lotto’s $60-million Lotto Max prize to a group workers from the Come By Chance oil refinery.
The winners, all members of the Boilermakers Local 203, are part of the largest prize ever presented in Atlantic Canada and in fact across the country.
Eugene Lewis of Harbour Main found out he was a millionaire at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday. He checked the numbers as he always does and then woke up his wife to do the same. Once realizing the group may have the winning ticket, he carefully thought out his next move, as many folks he worked with, and his family and friends, were curious when he was going to retire.
“As of 4:39 a.m., Saturday morning,” he said.
Shop steward Sherry Moore Hickey purchased the winning ticket at the Circle K store in Holyrood.
Included in the winning group are a husband and wife, father and son and twin brothers. Eight of the winners live in Avondale, with three of those residing on the same street.
Sherry Moore Hickey and Lee Hickey work together, and their home will get two shares of the winning prize. Frank and Cody Woodford are father and son, and Bob and William Cantwell are identical twin brothers.
Five of the workers decided to retire immediately, but a large portion of the group are going back to work on Monday to finish the project they started.
“My phone rang early in the morning. … It was Cody (Woodford). I kind of had a déjà vu moment, as on the previous Saturday my daughter was in a car accident. Your heart kind of stops there for a minute,” said Moore Hickey, one of the eight winners who lives in Avondale.
“My husband, Lee, answered the call and he came in saying, get up, get up, Cody called and said to check the tickets. … We are winners,” she said.
So like most people do today, she opened the Atlantic Lotto app on her phone and started reading the numbers to Lee, who wrote them down — something he doesn’t need to do now, as he listed them off several times on request.
“13, 17, 24, 32, 33, 44, 45, 48,” he said, smiling with his arms raised over his head.
Once Moore Hickey realized what was happening, she didn’t know what to do, she said.
“I had a $60-million ticket in my hands. I was afraid to set it down,” she said.
“I knew I had 29 calls to make, as my husband already knew. I got a few comments back, stuff like, ‘Are you drinking?’ and, ‘If I have to come in to you this morning.’”
She said it is not every day that one woman can get 30 men to tell them they love her.
“How many women get that?” she said, laughing.
Another of the winners — Dustin Flight of Southern Harbour — had karma on his side when it came to being part of the winning group.
Flight, one of the youngest in the Boilermakers Local 203 group, had won a 50/50 draw last year. He purchased tickets as part of a fundraiser to help a woman he knew with a sick child that required coming to St. John’s and staying at Ronald McDonald House while the child received treatment.
“I looked at what she had to do and what she needed, so I figure she needed it worse than I did, so I gave it all back,” Flight said.
Another of the winners, Michael Pritchard of Goulds, affectionately known as “The Townie” to his colleagues, received a warm welcome from the crowd when his name was announced.
Then reality set in of what he is part of.
“I just want to make sure Macey, the little one down there, gets what she wants,” he said.
“I don’t know how else to explain it right now.”
The 31 winners will receive $1,875,009.09 each.
An additional amount of $1,875,009.09 is being withheld until a resolution can be reached over a potential additional group member.
Each of the participants contributed $5 each, so there was $155 worth of tickets for the draw.
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The winners and the towns they reside in:
Sherry Moore Hickey, Avondale
Lee Hickey, Avondale
Willian Cantwell, Avondale
Cody Woodford, Avondale
John Doyle, Avondale
Vincent Hoskins, Avondale
Francis Woodford, Avondale
Colin Walsh, Chapel’s Cove
Eugene Lewis, Harbour Main
Paul Murphy, Harbour Main
Robert Cantwell, Harbour Main
Colin Gillingham, Holyrood
Patrick Williams, Holyrood
John Noseworthy, Conception Harbour
Augustine Conway, Colliers
Kenneth Abbott, Clarke’s Beach
Raymond Flaherty, St. John’s
Terrence Wadman, Clarenville
George Hollett, Chance Cove
Lindsay Barrett, Arnold’s Cove
Scott Hawco, Ferryland
Herbert Smith, Northwest Brook
Chris Hindy, Heart’s Delight
Michael Pritchard, Goulds
Shawn Knuckle, Conception Bay South
Adam Parsons, Southern Harbour
Dustin Flight, Southern Harbour
Eliol Strugnell, Whitbourne
Todd Stapleton, Appleton
Earlier story:
Come By Chance workers set record with $60M lotto prize
This province has 31 new millionaires following the presentation of Atlantic Lottery Corp.’s $60-million Lotto Max prize to a group of workers from the Come By Chance oil refinery.
The winners, all members of the Boilermakers Local 203, are part of the largest prize ever presented in Atlantic Canada — and, in fact, across the country.
Shop steward Sherry Moore Hickey purchased the winning ticket at the Circle K store in Holyrood.
Included in the winning group are a husband and wife, a father and son, and twin brothers. Eight of the winners live in Avondale, with three of those residing on the same street.
Five of the workers decided to retire immediately but a large contingent of the group is expected to go back to work on Monday to finish the project they started.
The Telegram will have additional details in its Thursday edition as well as online at www.thetelegram.com.
