Two Western New York Frequent Lottery Players Win $2,000,000 in Jackpot Prizes

BUFFALO, NY (07/30/2012)(readMedia)-- The New York Lottery's Gretchen Dizer presented two $1,000,000 prize checks to Western New York's most recent Lottery millionaires today at the Lottery's Buffalo Customer Service Center.

$1,000,000 Akron Lottery Winner Still Isn't Sure What He'll Do With the Money

Seventy-seven-year-old retired security officer Ronald Clark, of Akron, "didn't know what to think" when he scanned his winning Sweet Million ticket on July 10. Then Clark asked a store clerk to double check the ticket. "She gave me a funny look," he said. "She was as shocked as I was."

Clark plays the Lottery every day, usually Sweet Million and occasionally Powerball, he said. He plays his grandchildren's birthdays and a few other numbers. Clark purchased his winning ticket at CMA Petroleum on Main Road in Akron, which he happened to choose that day because it is the closest to his home.

He claimed his prize on July 12 at the Buffalo Customer Service Center. The $1,000,000 top prize on Sweet Million is paid as a one-time lump sum payment. Clark will receive a net check totaling $661,800.

Clark "doesn't really know" what he'll do with his prize money, but he does plan to give some to his church and some to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The New York Lottery contributed $186,760,842.15 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts throughout Erie County during fiscal year 2011-2012

Ashville Woman Wins $1,000,000 Loteria Jackpot on Her Lunch Break

Word of mouth convinced fifty-two-year-old Judy Tremblay of Ashville, Chautauqua County, to try her luck on the New York Lottery's Loteria scratch off game on her lunch break. Tremblay had heard about other winners on the Loteria game, but she still was shocked when she became a winner herself.

After purchasing the ticket at the Arrow Mart on East Fairmount Avenue in Lakewood on June 28, Tremblay scratched the ticket in her car and "spazzed out a little bit" before returning to work to finish her shift, she said. Back at work, news of her win spread quickly around the building and caused so much outpouring of emotion from coworkers that Tremblay was allowed to leave early for the day. She went straight to the Lottery's Buffalo Customer Service Center to claim her prize.

Tremblay has been playing Lottery games for more than 30 years and only winning small prizes. She continued to play, she said, because, "I believed in the dream that I could win."

The $1,000,000 top prize on the Loteria game is paid as an annuity. Tremblay will receive her prize in 20 annual payments of $50,000. Her annual net check will total $33,090.

Tremblay plans to use her winnings to pay bills, make some home improvements and take a vacation. "I can't remember the last time I went on vacation," Tremblay said.

The New York Lottery contributed $31,081,477.36 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts throughout Chautauqua County during fiscal year 2011-12.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing nearly $2.9 billion in fiscal year 2011-2012 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery's contribution represents nearly 15 percent of total state education aid to local school districts.

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district's size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.

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