1st time lottery, $5 ticket, $100,000 jackpot
Published: April 5, 2006
Newton resident Richard Garland is $68,000 richer thanks to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
Garland was the state’s first $100,000 prize winner. He was awarded $68,001.60 after taxes.
Garland said he hopes to use his winnings to buy his first house.
“For 33 years we’ve been married; we’ve never owned a home,” said Garland’s wife, Judy Garland. “It would nice to own our own home.”
Garland spent $5 on a scratch-off “Carolina Cash” ticket at the BJY Fast Shop in Conover on Thursday after he got off work.
At first he thought the scratch-off ticket read $10,000, said store owner Yates Deal. Garland asked around the store and someone said it was for $40,000.
When he made the call to Raleigh to report his winnings, he was informed the ticket actually read $100,000.
“I’m glad to see something like this happen in this area,” Deal said. “The only thing you hear about in this area is plants shutting down.
“And it happened to a hardworking, down-to-earth guy.”
Deal said Garland was calm after he found out how much he won. But he did ask a Conover police officer, who was at the store, to walk him out.
“I’ve seen the ticket, and I still can’t believe it,” Judy Garland said. “When I see the money, I hope I don’t hit the floor.”
Garland went to Raleigh on Friday to claim his prize.
A few others won top prizes on Thursday’s historic inaugural day:
• Army Sgt. James Greene, stationed at Fort Bragg, won $10,000 with a ticket bought in Fayetteville.
• Clyde Almond of Stanly County cashed in on a ticket worth $10,000 that he bought at Express Mart in Albemarle.
• Steve Moore of Candler won a $5,000 prize for a “Tic Tac Toe” ticket.
• Jackie Click bought a “Tic Tac Toe” ticket worth $5,000 at Tobacco To Go in Lenoir. Click said she is going to use the money to pay bills, according to an N.C. Education Lottery news release.
The N.C. Education Lottery netted $8 million from $11 million worth of tickets sold by 5,000 retailers on Thursday.
The state plans to join the multi-state Powerball lottery in late May.
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