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TOUCHDOWN! JOPLIN MAN SCORES REFRESHMENTS AND CASH
January 4, 2012
Gary Parks of Joplin deemed a Missouri Lottery ticket purchase as “the best $3 I’ve ever spent.” The 65-year-old won a $55,558 top prize on a “5 Times Bingo” Scratchers game on Dec. 26, 2011.
“I went to get some refreshments before the Falcons and Saints football game,” Parks recalled, referring to a stop at Casey’s General Store, 201 S. Maiden Lane, in Joplin. “I had $3 left, so I was trying to choose between ‘Crossword’ and ‘Bingo,’ and I finally took the ‘Bingo,’ because it takes longer to scratch it.”
After returning home, settling in on his favorite recliner and turning on the television, the grandfather-of-four began “watching pre-game stuff and scratching.”
“All of a sudden, I realized that I had won,” he shared.
He joked that his first post-win thought was, “I’m going to the Bahamas!”
The retiree explained that the windfall would actually be going toward a venture closer to his heart. He and his wife are in the process of adopting three of their grandchildren.
“We don’t have a very big house, so we’re going to try to expand,” said Parks. “It means a lot. It means more than I can even tell you. This prize will make life easier.”
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