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CASH 5 WINNER SURPRISES WIFE WITH $661,409 JACKPOT
September 6, 2012
Dale Strickland of Ocean Isle Beach is the winner of Saturday’s $661,409 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot – the largest Cash 5 jackpot awarded to a single winner this year.
On his way home from work late Saturday afternoon, Strickland stopped at Palms Grocery on Ocean Highway East in Winnabow where he bought a Cash 5 ticket. Sunday morning he checked the lottery’s website to see if his ticket matched any numbers in the drawing held the night before.
“I thought I hit 4,” he recalled. “Then I said ‘Uh-oh – I hit five!’”
Strickland, who has worked for 35 years as a wood yard technician, beat odds of 1 in 575,757 to win the jackpot. He kept his good luck a secret until Tuesday evening when he mentioned another recent lottery win in the area to his wife, Beth, who is a retired teacher.
“A couple from Southport won $100,000,” he said to her. “Tell me ten things you would do with $100,000.”
The first few items on her list, such as new beach chairs, sounded conservative to Dale. So he asked her to walk to the ocean with him to talk more. As they sat on the beach, Beth suspected what her husband was up to.
“You won $100,000 didn’t you?” she asked him. Dale then showed her a picture of his winning ticket on his smartphone. The estimated jackpot for the drawing was printed on the ticket.
“It was very exciting,” Beth recalled as the couple claimed the jackpot at lottery headquarters Wednesday afternoon. After state and federal taxes were withheld, their winnings totaled $449,758.
The Stricklands have added to their list of plans for the Cash 5 jackpot, including paying off their mortgage, sharing with their two adult sons, and vacationing to Hawaii.
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