Story and photos provided by the New York State Lottery
A craving for steak leads to a beefed up Lottery prize for a Silver 6s jackpot winner from Fulton
Debra Noyes of Fulton, Oswego County, stopped into Struppler’s Shurfine market on March 11, 2010 looking for “something to cook on the grill that night for dinner.” Before heading to the meat department, Noyes stopped at the customer service desk to cash in a couple of winning Lottery tickets.
“I never made it to the meat counter,” said Noyes, a medical biller for the East Syracuse-based Medical Management Resources, Inc. “I used the money I won on another ticket to buy (the Silver 6s) and then scratched it right there at the counter. I saw the $1,000,000 jackpot and started celebrating with the girls behind the counter,” she said. “We drew quite a crowd. There was a lot of commotion.” Noyes left the store without anything for dinner. “But, we survived,” she said.
Noyes said she is still coming to terms with her good fortune. “I have to keep telling myself this isn’t a dream,” she said. Noyes plans to use her cash prize to fund a trip to Florida for her daughter and maybe plan a trip for herself. “It’s going to take some thought,” she said. “It’s still sinking in.”
Noyes claimed her $1,000,000 jackpot on March 15th at the Lottery’s offices in Syracuse. She will receive her prize as $50,000 a year for the next 20 years, which amounts to an annual net check totaling $33,015 through 2029.
Noyes is the first Oswego County Lottery player since 2007 to claim a jackpot prize of $1,000,000 or more. Those Oswego County players to claim a $1,000,000 prize in 2007 include Catherine Burns of Mexico who won on the $500,000,000 Extravaganza instant game and Brenda Pluff of Parish who won her $1,000,000 prize on the Deal or No Deal scratch ticket.
The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, earning more than $36.7 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago. The Lottery contributed nearly $2.54 billion in fiscal year 2008-09 to help support education in New York State, which was over 12 percent of total state education funding to local school districts. The Lottery’s ongoing commitment to education also includes the awarding of more than 1,100 Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) Scholarships annually to high school students pursuing their higher education in New York State. Since 1999, the Lottery has awarded more than 11,500 scholarships representing a total commitment of almost $50 million.
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