This year’s holiday season just got happier for Willard Goldsborough of Montgomery County after he won the first top prize of $150,000 in the Happy Holidays game.

Goldsborough, who lives in Candor, bought the $5 ticket at the Tobacco & Beverage Outlet on North Main Street in Candor. He claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $106,126.

The Happy Holidays game started in November with three top prizes of $150,000. Two top prizes remain to be won.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have helped all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website. https://www.nclottery.com.