Couple claim $50-million lottery prize.
City couple says they’ll take their honeymoon after 25 years
An Edmonton couple has finally come forward and claimed their Christmas present after more than six months: a $50-million cheque.
Andrea and Bill Groner found out they had won the Dec. 20, 2013 Lotto Max just two days later, but decided to process the news and keep it to themselves until this week.
Andrea Groner, 47, checked her ticket at Londonderry Mall on Dec. 22, but had to ask the clerk to read the numbers to her because she didn’t have her glasses. The Shefield Express employee was much more excited than she was.
“I was in disbelief,” she said.
Her plans for the rest of the day were thwarted as she went home to tell her husband the news.
Bill Groner, 54, recently retired from his job as a heavy equipment operator, and his wife plans to retire from EECOL Electric this December.
“We’ve been working all our lives,” Andrea said, holding hands with her husband at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The couple chose to go about their normal lives until they decided what they were going to do.
“We just chose not to discuss with people,” she said. “The people that we wanted to know already know.”
Last month, the Western Canada Lottery Corp. announced the winning ticket hadn’t yet been claimed, and urged people to check their numbers. Andrea Groner said they were watching local newscasts, yelling, “We’re right here!” at the TV.
The couple still isn’t quite sure what they’re going to do with the winnings — or at least they’re not making it public.
“We still have to go on our honeymoon,” Andrea said. The Groners have been married for 25 years.
Most of all, they want to maintain their day-to-day lives.
“It’s more than one could ever dream of having,” she said.
The win is the biggest in Edmonton history, and the second largest in Alberta history. The largest was a $54.3-million win in Camrose in October 2005.