Fishing Creek resident claims $50,000 prize in Jan. 23 drawing
An Eastern Shore waterman accustomed to pulling treasures from the Chesapeake Bay just pulled a winning Powerball ticket from his pocket. He cast a lure in the Jan. 23 drawing using a $2 ticket and a sequence of birthday numbers to catch a $50,000 third-tier prize.
The Fishing Creek resident was following his daily routine when he snagged Lottery luck. Each day, the 34-year-old wakes up early and heads to Hoopers Island General Store for supplies and sustenance before hitting the water to harvest crabs or oysters. While stopping for a soda on Jan. 21, the Dorchester County dad also purchased a Powerball ticket at the urging of a store patron.
The numbers on the ticket, plucked from birth dates of his wife and children, managed to match four of the numbers drawn on Jan. 23 along with the Powerball. The odds of his win were just one in 913,129.
The lucky player chuckled when he explained that the valuable piece of paper, now worth $50,000, had made several trips out on the Bay before he realized its worth. Hoopers Island General Store had posted a message online explaining that the store had sold a $50,000 winning Powerball ticket and urging customers to check their tickets. The waterman grabbed his ticket and his kids and returned to the store. While he checked the Powerball ticket against the winning numbers, he was holding his two children.
“When I saw the amount I wanted to celebrate, but I had my kids with me. I had to set them down first before I could jump around,” he said.
The hard-working waterman returned to work on the water the next day. He told Lottery officials that he vowed that the win would not change him and said he plans to save his prize for a rainy day.
“It’s not enough to stop working and you never know when you’re going to need it,” he said. “I’ll just save it and act like it’s not there.”
Meanwhile, Hoopers Island General Store located at 2806 Hoopers Island Road in Church Creek is also a winner in the community for its lucky sale. This is the largest winning ticket sold by the convenience store, which sells a variety of Lottery games including 10 types of scratch-offs ranging in price from $1 to $20.
The Powerball jackpot, which was hit by a New Jersey player in the Jan. 23 drawing, is on another roll. Players who buy tickets for the Wednesday, Feb. 17 drawing could win the $66 million jackpot or a cash option of $48.3 million. Try your luck at your local Lottery retailer or make the trip to Hoopers Island General Store to see if Powerball luck can strike there twice!
