Just call them the Wealthy Barber and Wealthy Customer now. Mike Dettorre, owner of iconic Mike's Barber Shop in Ottawa and his friend and customer of 30 years, Samir Haddad don't need any financial self-help books now.
The two Ottawa residents found out Monday morning they were Ontario's latest multi-millionaires after their quick-pick LOTTO 6/49 netted them a cool $32 million.
"We would have been here on Monday had we found out earlier," said Samir Haddad, a hardwood floor installer by trade, and all around handyman. "As it was, I was helping Mike's daughter fix a broken garage on Sunday, and Mike joked if we had won the lottery we could buy a new one." Mike added, "It's really funny that we joked about it, and now here we are. It's fate."
The friends have been playing lottery games together since the inception of lottery tickets in Ontario, soon after arriving in Canada from Italy and Lebanon respectively. They have kept every lottery ticket they purchased since then, and brought them along to show reporters. "I actually wanted to toss them in the air during the cheque presentation!" said Haddad.
Samir Haddad is married to Denise, and has a 33 year old son Jaime, and a 20 year old daughter Angie. Mike Dettore is married to Pina and has three grown children. With the windfall they plan to share and help their family and close friends.
The winning ticket was purchased at Ottawa South Grocery on Sunnyside Avenue in Ottawa on Saturday June 28, 2008.