A two-week lucky streak for Frank Drum, Jr. of Lincolnton led to not one, not two, not three, but four lottery wins, ending with a $100,000 Ruby Red 7’s prize.

“I won $100 on the little $2 Lots of $100’s ticket first,” recalled Drum. “Then I used that $100 to buy one $25 ticket, hit $1,000 and then I went in on a Friday, bought another $25 ticket and won another $1,000. It was a lot of good luck.”

On Thursday, Drum stopped at Kingsway on East Main Street in Lincolnton where he purchased his most recent lucky $20 ticket along with a $5 Carolina Panthers ticket and a $5 Super 7s ticket.

Still in the store, Drum scratched his winning ticket off and revealed its big prize. “I basically walked straight out of the store, got into my truck, sat down and got myself together after I’d realized what I’d won,” he said. “It was unbelievable.”

His wife called as he was sitting in his truck and asked him to run one more errand before heading home. “I said I need to come home,” he recalled. “And she said, ‘No, I need you to go do this.’ So, I said, ‘Look, I won $100,000!’ And she goes, ‘No, you didn’t!’ and hung up on me. She thought I was lying to her!”

Drum claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings he took home $70,756.

He and his wife plan to use the winnings to pay off their bills. “We’re gonna put a little back in savings,” said Drum. “Then, when all the COVID-19 is over, we’ll take a week’s vacation. It’s been a blessing for us. This is definitely going to make life a lot better.”

Ruby Red 7’s launched in January with four top prizes of $4 million and eight prizes of $100,000. Two $4 million prizes and three $100,000 prizes remain to be won.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million per year for education. For details on how $4.5 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Lincoln County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.