‘Prize of a lifetime’ appears to start New Year

This week, as the page turned from 2014 to 2015, we got to meet several lucky lottery winners.

Woodrow Boyd II of Granville County started off the New Year by collecting a lottery prize that will pay him $130,000 a year every year for the rest of his life. Boyd, a technician for a utility company, won the top prize in the “$2,500 a Week for Life!” instant game.

Joseph Richardson of Warrenton had the only ticket to match all five white balls in the Dec. 29 Carolina Cash 5 drawing, winning him the $146,029 jackpot. He purchased the lucky ticket at the Extell Barity Mart on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Norlina.

Between Monday and New Year’s Day, four New Hanover County residents claimed big lottery prizes, including a hospital housekeeper from Wilmington who won $150,000. On the day after Christmas, Carrie Dixon decided to try her luck on a $5 Joker’s Wild ticket. When she realized she won the top prize of $150,000, she was elated. “I started running around in a circle,” she recalled.

Another Wilmington resident, Christopher Dickens, matched all five numbers in the Dec. 30 Carolina Cash 5 drawing to win the $50,000 jackpot. A pair of Carolina Beach residents scratched their way to big prizes. Cheryl Mathena won $30,000 playing Triple Fortune, and Larry Bowman scored $50,000 on a Junior Big Ol’ Bucks ticket.

From Dec. 29 through Jan. 1, lottery players across the state won more than $12 million in prizes. Instant players won more than $9.4 million and draw game players won more than $2.8 million. Tickets for North Carolina draw games – Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 5 and All or Nothing – won more than $2.6 million. Between Tuesday’s Mega Millions and Wednesday’s Powerball drawing, players won more than $200,000.

Eleven players scratched or matched for wins of $10,000 to $50,000. They are:

• Janet Britt of Charleston, SC: $30,000 (Triple Play)
• Philip Capling of Charlotte: $25,000 (Jolly Jingle Bucks)
  
• Carolyn Lewis of Faison: $20,000 (Joker’s Wild)
  
• Christy Hardee of Greenville: $10,000 ($200 Million Blowout)
  
• Angela Nixon of Hampstead: $10,000 (White Hot 5’s)
  
• Linnie Huntsman of Hillsborough: $10,000 (12/27/14 Powerball Drawing)
  
• Matthew Simber of Mebane: $50,000 (Jingle Bingo Bucks)
  
• Billy Mauney of Shelby: $50,000    (Junior Big Ol’ Bucks)
  
• Monquisha Sherrod of Tarboro: $10,000 (EZ Money)
  
• Ramon Webb of Wendell: $50,000 (12/24/14 Cash 5 Drawing)
  
• Essie Hailey of Winston-Salem: $50,000 ($200 Million Blowout)
  

The record of this year’s winners has already begun. We wish all our players the best of luck getting added to the list. Until next time, have a fun and safe weekend. See you soon here in the Lucke-Zone.