$2.5 million payday

A routine start to the day ended withahuge payout for oneOneida County family.

“I was out running my usual errands and bought the ticket at Kinney Drugs,” explained Dana Walsh of Clinton, who decided to purchase two Lottery scratch-off tickets at the store. “I put the tickets in my purse and continued my day.”

Later in the day she scratched the tickets and the $2,500 a Week for Life ticket she purchased contained the jackpot winning combination earning her and her husband Robert a $2.5 million payday.

“I was sitting in the parking lot of the Dollar General and remembered the tickets in my purse. I scratched them and when I saw the matching 11s on the Win for Life ticket I knew I had won a prize. When I saw the word ‘life’ underneath, I was in shock. I kept looking around for the cameras because I thought it was a joke.”

Walsh drove back to Kinney Drugs and scanned the ticket to make sure it was real.

“Not only did I scan it at Kinney Drugs, I took it to another store and scanned it twice to be sure. Every time I scanned the ticket it said ‘big winner’ so I knew it must be real.”

Walsh finally called her husband, who was in Florida at the time.

“I called Bob four times before he got around to calling me back. At first he thought something was wrong, but when I told him the news he was a little hesitant to

believe me. It wasn’t until he got home about a week later that it really sank in,” said Walsh.

The Walshes opted to split their prize and chose the lump-sumpayment option. Eachwill receive a net check totaling $659,061 af- ter required withholdings.

“This is all still very unreal for both of us,” said Walsh. “Our initial plans for the money are to pay off our mortgage and our son’s student loans. After that, we’ll all get newcars.”

The New York Lottery contributed $54.2 million in Lottery Aid to Education to school districts in Oneida County during fiscal year 2015-2016.