Michigan residents Ralph and Mary Stebbins decided that it would be a good idea to make a difference in their community with their multi- million Mega Millions Lottery winnings. They decided to start a dental clinic for low-income people in their hometown. Mary said that she also wanted to buy a cow.
In April of 2004, when retired truck driver J. R. Triplett of Virginia held a press conference following his winning of a $239 million Mega Millions Lottery jackpot, his wife Peggy exclaimed "I can shop 'til I drop."
In March of 2007, a Dalton, Georgia man named Eddie Nabors shared what was at that time the biggest Mega Millions US lottery prize of $390,000,000 with another ticket holder from New Jersey. His lucky numbers were: 16-22-29-39-42 and the Mega Ball was 20. "A coworker told me that somebody in Dalton won, so I looked it up in the newspaper," Nabors said. "I couldn't believe it. I was numb."
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A truck driver for Mohawk Industries, Eddie Nabors has three grown children and six grandchildren. When he was asked while at the lottery headquarters how he wanted to spend his winnings, he said: "I'm gonna go fishing." As the story goes, Margaret DeFrancisco, who is the CEO of the Georgia Lottery, had a pillow on her chair saying "Gone Fishing". She gave it to Mr. Nabors to pose for pictures at the press conference where he received his oversized ceremonial cheque. He purchased a new boat afterwards and said he plans to take it "everywhere."
A January, 2005, winner of a $130,000,000 Mega Millions jackpot, Margaret Jones, arrived at Atlanta headquarters inan extraordinary way. She chartered a whole bus and invited her family and friends to accompany her. They cheered and celebrated the whole way to Atlanta and then carried on with congratulations during the press conference, when Ms Jones received her cheque.
Stephen Cooke, a Roswell, Georgia, native showed up at the Mega Millions office in Atlanta to claim his lottery winnings following a draw held in November, 2003. He was told that he would be sharing the lottery jackpot with two other players. At that point, Cooke realized that HE was one of the other two winners! He had purchased two lottery tickets with the same numbers, so he was a double winner.
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Dundalk, Maryland, native Bunky Bartlett shared his $330 million Mega Millions prize with a few other players in August, 2007. Mr Bartlett became famous because of the way he wanted to spend his lottery jackpot winnings. He was working at Mystickal Voyage new age store, and said that he would like to help the manager expand the store. After that, he said, he would start teaching Reiki, which is a popular form of Japanese healing.
US Army officer Stephen Moore was serving in South Korea when he hit a $150,000,000 Mega Millions top prize in September of 2003, while in the states for a vacation with his family in Fitzgerald, Georgia. Believe it or not, before departing for his 30-day leave from the military, he told friends that he would hit the lottery jackpot home on vacation.
Pat and Dick Warren, Washington's first Mega Millions winners, donated a significant part of their $93 million lottery jackpot to charities. Swanson's Market, the store that sold the couple a winning ticket, gained a reputation of being lucky. Since then, many hopeful players have flocked to this store to buy tickets.
Washington state's second jackpot winners emigrated from Laos. The wife was raised in an orphanage and later adopted by American parents. The couple decided to use part of their lottery winnings to make a journey back to Laos to search for the wife's natural parents.
How would you spend your Mega Millions Lottery winnings?