West Virginia lottery officials introduced their newest millionaire to the public yesterday, in a special press conference held at the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. Hartzell “John†Lancaster picked up a $1 million Powerball prize won in the drawing held on May 17 after he matched all five main numbers drawn. Hartzell narrowly missed out on the jackpot by just the Powerball number.
Lancaster purchased his ticket at the Convenient Food Mart on Pennsylvania Avenue in Weirton which is just a short distance from his own business, Jaaag Tire. He purchased five tickets for the Powerball drawing, something Lancaster says he’s been doing religiously since he started playing the lottery 28 years ago.
John Musgrave, West Virginia’s Lottery Director, presented Lancaster with his life changing win yesterday afternoon. Lancaster was joined at the press conference by his wife Gloria and their three daughters, when asked about what his priorities were following the big win, Lancaster said they would be to take care of his immediate family and put some aside for his retirement.
“Meeting my wife was the best thing that happened to me. She was the first of God’s gifts to me and as my children were born, life changes and family is your priority,” said Lancaster.
Lancaster is the 10th West Virginia player this year to win a prize of $1 million or more on a multi-state lottery game. Out of these ten winning tickets, just one remains unclaimed. The winning $1 million ticket was purchased in Wheeling and matched all five main numbers (36, 44, 49, 52, 57) in the Powerball drawing on February 12.
The next Powerball draw takes place tomorrow and is boasting a 10x rollover jackpot of $173 million while the next Mega Millions draw takes place tonight and offers a double rollover jackpot of $26 million.
by
Mike Redfern
Updated
May 30th, 2014
