He simply retired; she acquired laid off. Then they every gained 1,000,000 {dollars}.

Native Information

A few fortunate Massachusetts residents bested the lottery’s distant odds final month.

A smiling woman holds a large novelty check made out for $1 million.
Rae Ann Wentworth-Cadieux of Hadley on the Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester. The Massachusetts Lottery

Although the chances of successful huge within the lottery are extraordinarily slim, two latest Massachusetts success tales show that luck can strike on the most surprising moments. 

Paul Bashaw, 65, gave his boss of 20 years his two-week discover on Monday, July 17. Three days later, he went into the J & J Selection retailer on West Boylston Road in West Boylston and acquired a “$5,000,000 100X Cashword” scratch-off lottery ticket. It ended up being value 1,000,000 {dollars}.

Bashaw completed out his two weeks, preserving the excellent news to himself, earlier than accumulating his prize cash on July 28. He opted for a one-time payout of $650,000.

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“I informed my spouse there have been three issues in life I by no means thought I’d see occur: the Patriots successful the Tremendous Bowl, getting a gap in a single — that occurred 5 years in the past — and hitting the Lottery, and now I’ve hit all three,” Bashaw informed the Massachusetts Lottery.

He plans to spend a few of his winnings on journey.

Whereas Bashaw was working his final couple weeks earlier than retirement, Rae Ann Wentworth-Cadieux of Hadley was reeling from being laid off after 25 years in Hampshire Faculty’s IT division. However she, too, was about to get a stroke of fine luck.

Wentworth-Cadieux matched the primary 5 numbers within the July 19 Powerball drawing (however didn’t guess the Powerball quantity) and was in Dorchester two days later to gather her million-dollar prize on the state lottery headquarters. She plans to make use of the cash to purchase a summer season house.

After winners have collected their prizes (and retailers their commissions), revenues from the Massachusetts Lottery return to the state’s cities and cities to fund infrastructure enhancements and different group initiatives. The lottery netted about $1.2 billion final fiscal yr.