SACRAMENTO – During the course of this past weekend a winning ticket was burning a hole through the pocket of California Lottery player James, a retired truck driver from Tehachapi. While James understands the public curiosity about his story, he prefers to keep his last name anonymous. With excitement building, James endured the weekend and then, this morning, he made the early morning trek to the California Lottery District Office in Fresno to experience the fun and magic that winning a Scratchers ticket is all about – claiming his prize of $100,000.
His wife of 42 years was skeptical at first. “She didn’t believe me,” explained James, “and said, I have to bring the check for her to believe it.” After James returns with $100,000, you can count on her excitement setting in as well.
The plan, aside from the usual celebratory dinner, is to make a grand gesture James has wanted to do for some time, buy his wife a pair of diamond earrings. “She deserves every bit of it,” he said smiling cheek to cheek.
The $5 Stars and Stripes Scratchers ticket was sold at S & H Foodmart on 20917 South Street, in Tehachapi.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $55 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.5 billion in compensation since 1985.