Three Newmarket residents are among a group of eight retired education workers from York Region and area sharing a win of $956,081 in the March 4, 2023 Lottario draw.
The group members are:
- Bernadette Kenny of Newmarket
- Barbara Robinson-Vincent of Newmarket
- Heather Lundberg of Newmarket
- Patricia Daley of Aurora
- Margaret Hennelly of Stouffville
- Betty-Anne Gottfried of Alliston
- Christiane Durocher of Ancaster
- Suzanne Poirier of Wasaga Beach
The group of former coworkers, who are now retired from the education field, have been playing the lottery together for 20 years, an OLG news release said.
“I buy the tickets and check them every Sunday morning,” shared Bernadette while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.
“When Bernadette called me and told me to write down a number, I thought it was a phone number,” Heather said. “She then told me that was the amount of money we won — I was so surprised.”
“I got a call from Bernadette after getting home from vacation and she told me to plan another one because we won big,” said Margaret.
“I think it means a lot that we won this prize together because we’ve known each other for 30 years,” Bernadette smiled.
The group members have various plans for their share of the windfall from going on vacations to sharing with their families. Heather will fix the fence in her backyard and Bernadette will plan a Christmas vacation with her family.
The winning ticket was purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart on Yonge Street in East Gwillimbury.