Los Angeles Homemaker Wins $100,000! Actor Joe E. Tata Presents "Hero In Education" Award

12.18.1999
Los Angeles Homemaker Wins $100,000! Actor Joe E. Tata Presents "Hero In Education" Award

SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "Big Spin® 2000" show airs Saturday, December 18, 1999 in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a total of $262,500.

Margaret McOsker, a resident at Atrium Retirement Home, will be turning 96 years old this month. She decided she was not ready to "give up" on life and volunteered to work at Albert Schweitzer Elementary. McOsker, who has received the "Jefferson Award" for her 20-year volunteer commitment to teaching English as a second language to Asian Immigrants, devotes her time to sharing the love of reading to Albert Schweitzer Elementary's 3^rd grade students. The wonderful and fun loving actor, Joe E. Tata, presented McOsker with California Lottery's "Hero In Education" award. Tata's acting credits include 'Nat' on the hit series "Beverly Hills 90210," and starring rolls in "Rockford Files," "O'Hara," and "Gomer Pyle."

"I'm working very hard on my life, now I can put a down payment on a house and buy a new car," said Sylvia Bolanos, a homemaker from Los Angeles. Bolanos won $100,000 spinning the largest prize wheel in the world after receiving three "Spin" symbols on a Scratcher® she had bought.

"When I opened the letter, I couldn't believe it and I screamed," exclaimed Fantasy^TM 5 winner Martha Wilcoxen. Wilcoxen, an office specialist from Garden Valley, won $70,000 on the Fantasy 5 Dream Machine. She plans to buy a computer and take an Alaskan cruise with her prize money.

Barbara Cummings, a sales clerk from Duarte, said, "I'm going to pay some bills and help out my children and grandchildren; do all that I can for them," after winning $40,000 on the new High Roller game. Antonio Casillas of Watsonville won $5,000.

California Gold contestants won a combined total of $47,500. This week's top winner was Josephine Torres of Covina. "I'd like to go see Barbara Streisand in concert for my birthday," said top California Gold winner, Torres, after winning $25,000.

The California Lottery sells its products through a network of more than 18,000 outlets statewide. The Lottery provides 52 percent of its revenues to players as prizes, 34 percent to public schools, and 14 percent for administrative expenses, which includes 6.8 percent for retailer commissions. Since 1985, the Lottery has raised more than $11 billion for public schools. The California Lottery's contribution equals approximately 2 percent of the state's total education budget. "Big Spin® 2000" is the longest running Lottery game show in the country, airing continuously since 1985.

NAME	CITY	AMOUNT
Sylvia Bolanos	Los Angeles	$ 100,000
Martha Wilcoxen	Garden Valley	$ 70,000
Barbara Cummings	Duarte	$ 40,000
Josephine Torres	Covina	$ 25,000
Antonio Casillas	Watsonville	$ 5,000
Other California Gold Winners		$ 22,500
		TOTAL $ 262,500

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1999 4th Quarter Press Releases: Article