Onondaga and Oswego Counties Welcome Central New York's Newest Lottery Millionaires

Central New York is home to two of the state's newest Lottery Millionaires. The winners, both of whom are employed in East Syracuse, claimed their respective $1,000,000 prizes at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Syracuse during the week of March 8, 2010.

Dream of winning a Harley for her husband turns into a $1,000,000 reality check for Kirkville woman

Fifty-year-old Susan Kot of Kirkville bought her Harley Davidson instant ticket with the hope of winning one of the 10 Harley "Fat Boy" motorcycle prizes available on the ticket. "I was hopeful," she said. "I always win something." It wasn't until two days later when Kot tried to scan the ticket at a Lottery retailer that she learned she didn't win the bike, but she did win something entirely different.

"I was walking around for two days with a ticket worth $1,000,000 in my purse," said the assembler for PPC in East Syracuse. "I tried to scan it at one store and it didn't work so I brought it back to Dandy Mart to try it there. That's the first time I knew I had a $1,000,000 winner. I was overwhelmed. I went outside and cried."

Kot purchased her $1,000,000 winner on March 3, 2010 at the Dandy Mart on Minoa-Bridgeport Road in East Syracuse during a routine stop to trade in her winning tickets for a couple of new ones. "I asked for the (Harley Davidson) ticket at the counter, but they didn't have any so I bought one out of the vending machine."

Kot claimed her ticket at the Lottery's offices in Syracuse on March 8, 2010. "I'm still in a daze," she said at the time. "It doesn't seem real."

As with most instant games, the top prize on the Harley Davidson instant ticket is paid as a 20 year annuity. Kot will receive her prize as $50,000 a year through 2029. Her annual net check will total $33,015.

Kot said the timing of her win is perfect because now she can treat her sister, who is engaged to be married later this year, to one last Vegas vacation before her big day. "I was thinking about a special wedding gift for her," said Kot. "I think I've got it." Kot's other plans include sharing her newfound wealth with her husband and children.

Kot is the first Onondaga county Lottery player of 2010 to win a jackpot prize valued at $1,000,000 or more. Other Syracuse-area Lottery players to claim a cash prize of $1,000,000 or more in 2009 include Mary Holl of Baldwinsville who won $1,000,000 on the Cash City instant game; Suzanne Stockin of Baldwinsville who won $1,000,000 on the $1,000,000 Cashword instant game; the Silverbush Family of Syracuse which opted to split a $35,000,000 Mega Millions jackpot; Patrick Clement of Syracuse who won at least $20,000,000 on the Win $1,000,000 A Year For Life instant game; and Willie Burgess of Syracuse who won $3,000,000 on the Stacks of Cash instant game.

A craving for steak leads to a beefed up Lottery prize for 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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