Trio of lotto winners share their joy
"Shocked" is how three individuals described the feeling when they learned they had won big from Georgia Lottery instant games.
A Columbus college student now has more than enough tuition money after she won $1 million from the Georgia Lottery’s World Class Millions instant game.
Casandra Dixon purchased her ticket at the CITGO Food on South Lumpkin Road in Columbus.
She scratched one half of the ticket in the store and the other when she got home.
“I was like, ‘Wow.’ It was shocking,” the 32-year-old said.
Dixon, a mother of four who is studying to become a dental hygienist at Columbus Technical College, said she is going to use the money to “spread good cheer” in her household for her husband and the rest of her family.
As Dixon celebrates, a recovering flood victim in Hiram is doing the same.
Mary Yarbrough, 44, and her husband won a $750,000 top prize from the instant game Jingle Jumbo Bucks.
“I’m still in shock,” the mother of three said. “We have looked at the ticket again and again.”
Her husband, Richard, purchased the ticket at Quik Thrift on Brownsville Road in Powder Springs while on his way to work. He waited a few days before scratching it.
The Yarbroughs plan to use their winnings to repair their home, which they have not lived in since Sept. 20.
Jeri Mann, 62, of Roswell, plans to take her $150,000 winnings and invest after paying off some bills.
She won her top prize playing the instant game Giant Jumbo Bucks.
“I was shaking and gasping,” Mann said.
On her way home from helping a friend decorate for the holidays, Mann stopped by the Chevron Food Mart on Holcomb Bridge Road in Alpharetta and purchased the winning ticket.
She scratched it at home.
“It’s still totally surreal,” she exclaimed. “This is a mind-altering experience.”
