Lottery luck
Pictou County woman wins Set For Life prize
Ericka Rauh could have been spending her winnings back in February.
The Pictou area woman bought a Set for Life lottery ticket about a month and a half ago when she filled up her car with gas at the Needs-Fast Fuel in Stellarton.
But she didn’t scratch the ticket until last week, when she found out she was the winner of $675,000.
“When I buy gas, I usually buy a ticket and save it for later,” she said. “I was a bit early for work, so I took out a Set for Life ticket tucked under my visor. I scratched three starfish and then uncovered the prize. I still can’t believe I won.
“It took a while to sink in that I actually won Set For Life,” said Rauh. “When I scratched it, I thought this is a joke. I had to really sit there and process it.”
Rauh celebrated her win on Thursday as officials from Atlantic Lottery Corporation presented her with a cheque at her workplace – Nova Truck Centres in Westville – where she will continue to perform her duties in shipping, receiving and parts.
She plans to buy a new vehicle to replace hers, which she said has been “limping along” for the last year, but she’s not sure what she’s going to do with the rest of her winnings.
“The money is more or less security. I don’t have to worry about making it from paycheque to paycheque,” she said.
The win was a surprise for Rauh’s co-workers, who didn’t find out until the crew from Atlantic Lottery showed up, as before that she had only told her manager.
“The first person I told was my boss,” she said. “I wanted to confirm it first,” she said. “Nobody knew. I kept it a secret.”
Rauh won the top Set for Life prize, which is $1,000 a week for 25 years or a lump sum of $675,000. She opted to receive her prize as a lump sum.