SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 — Having a cold turned out to be a lucky thing for Lakeville resident Greg Coupanger. A trip to the store for cough drops resulted in a $100,000 Lottery win for him.

When the sales clerk at Kwik Trip, located at 20187 Dodd Blvd. in Lakeville asked if he wanted to purchase anything other than the cough drops, he decided to try his luck on a Texas Hold ’Em scratch ticket.

Before leaving the store parking lot, Coupanger scratched the ticket and realized he’d won $100,000. “That’s when the shock set in,” he recalled. “I saw what it was, I knew what it was, but I couldn’t believe it.”

Coupanger took the ticket back into the store and used the store’s ticket checker to scan the ticket. “I got a message that I had to come to Lottery headquarters.”

SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 — St. Paul resident Lenzy Davis says he has dreamed about winning the Lottery for a long time. On Sept. 1 his dream finally came true — he claimed a $100,000 Texas Hold ’Em scratch game prize.

Davis has been a loyal fan of the Texas Hold ’Em  game for a couple of years, so after playing the ticket he purchased on Sept. 1 there was no doubt in his mind that he was holding a $100,000 winner. “I knew it was a winner because a straight flush definitely beats a full house,” Davis recalled. “I just had to keep looking at it to believe it.”

As Davis received his prize check, he smiled and said, “Life is good!” Davis purchased the winning ticket at Airport BP, 2526 W. 7th St. in St. Paul.

AUGUST 27, 2010 — Sylvester Rhines of Minneapolis won $18,992 playing Northstar Cash. The fourth line of his five-line ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Aug. 20 to win $18,992. His ticket was one of two sold that matched all five winning numbers for that drawing to split the $37,984 jackpot.

Rhines purchased the winning ticket at Winner On 46, 400 - 46th St. E. in Minneapolis.

AUGUST 27, 2010 — Gary Shoots of Minneapolis won a $30,497 Northstar Cash jackpot. The quick-pick ticket that he purchased for the Aug. 26 drawing matched all five winning numbers (9-17-18-20-31).

Shoots claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Aug. 27.

15^th Street Market, located at 1500 Nicollet Ave. S. in Minneapolis, sold the winning ticket.

AUGUST 25, 2010 — Aug. 25 was by far the biggest pay day for Rollin Olson. The Sartell resident claimed a half million dollar prize by playing the Lottery’s $500,000 Payday scratch game.

Olson said he has been a fan of the game because it was “paying out really well,” but none of his other payouts compared to winning a $500,000 top prize. “I was in awe,” he recalled. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought, ‘Is this for real?’” Olson immediately called his wife, June, to share the good news. She was also in disbelief until Rollin sent her a picture of the winning ticket via text message.

Benton Drive Mini Serve, located at 600 – 1^st Ave. N.E. in Sartell, sold the winning ticket.

AUGUST 25, 2010 — Kwik Trip, 216 N. 4th in La Crescent, sold a winning scratch ticket worth $50,000. The winning ticket, a $500,000 Mega Bucks Jackpot scratch game ticket, was purchased by Joseph Pryor of LaCrosse, Wis.

Pryor claimed the $50,000 prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Aug. 24.

AUGUST 25, 2010 — Bryan Grant of Veseli won $18,992 playing Northstar Cash. The fourth line of his five-line ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Aug. 20 to win $18,992. His ticket was one of two sold that matched all five winning numbers for that drawing to split the $37,984 jackpot.

Grant purchased the winning ticket at Casey's General Store, 215 Central St. E. in Lonsdale.

AUGUST 23, 2010 — Carolyn and Doug Fronk of Inver Grove Heights won a $939,546 Gopher 5 jackpot. The first line of the five-line quick-pick ticket that Carolyn purchased for the Aug. 4 drawing matched all five numbers drawn (11-12-20-22-38) to win the $939,546 jackpot.

The Corner Store, located at 3015 – 80^th St. E. in Inver Grove Heights, sold the winning ticket.

AUGUST 19, 2010 — Joel Purcell thought he was dreaming when he uncovered a $100,000 win while playing the Casino Riches scratch game on Aug. 16. “I thought I had to wake up because this is something I’ve actually dreamt about before.”

However, reality set in for the St. Paul resident when he arrived at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville the following day to claim the prize. Purcell says the win couldn’t have come at a better time for him and his family. He purchased the winning ticket at Ramaley Liquor Inc., 666 Grand Ave. in St. Paul.

AUGUST 18, 2010 — Chad Leohr of Lindstrom won $26,000 playing Northstar Cash. The numbers on his quick-pick ticket matched the numbers 2-11-14-21-30 drawn on July 31, 2010 to win the $26,000 jackpot.

Leohr purchased the winning ticket at Cub Foods, 3717 Lexington Ave. N. in Arden Hills.

AUGUST 18, 2010 — On Aug. 15, Cottage Grove resident Susan Detviler purchased a $500,000 Riches scratch ticket from Gas Mart of Osakis, 300 Nokomis St. in Osakis while she was spending time at her lake home.

Detviler scratched the ticket and didn’t immediately notice that one of her numbers matched one of the winning numbers until her daughter pointed it out. “She said, ‘You have 24, mom,’” Detviler recalled. “I looked and saw it and thought, ‘This isn’t right.’” The prize for matching the number was $500,000.

The duo couldn’t wait to tell Detviler’s husband, Richard, the good news. “I said, ‘We’ve got to go home. We have to go to Roseville. Then I showed him the ticket,” Detviler explained. Richard Detviler said, “I looked at it about five times and said it looks good.” They went back to the store to check the ticket and got the message that the ticket was a winner and needed to be claimed at the Lottery office. “I knew we were 95 percent there,” Richard said.

The couple was 100 percent convinced they won the $500,000 prize after they received the prize check at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Aug. 16.   

AUGUST 18, 2010 — Judith Rust of Bloomington won $28,000 playing Northstar Cash. The first set of numbers on her five-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers of 5-7-10-18-20 from the Aug. 13, 2010 drawing to win the $28,000 jackpot.

Rust purchased the winning ticket at Cub Foods, 10520 S. France Ave. in Bloomington.

AUGUST 16, 2010 — Monica Johnson proved that it only takes one ticket to win. On Aug. 9 the Staples resident’s single line quick-pick ticket matched all five winning numbers drawn (2-8-16-24-28) to win a $49,269 Northstar Cash jackpot.

She claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters office in Roseville on Aug. 13.

Johnson purchased the winning ticket at Ernie’s Food Market, 1230 US Highway 10 East in Staples.

AUGUST 13, 2010 — Robert Sukalski of Fairmont purchased a Large Mouth Cash ticket at Vet’s Oil SuperAmerica at 307 N. State St. in Fairmont.

He took the ticket home and scratched it. Sukalski couldn’t believe his luck when the last number he scratched on the ticket matched one of the winning numbers to win the game’s top prize of $100,000.

Sukalski claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Aug. 12. 

AUGUST 4, 2010 — Mike Yahnke of Winona bought four Minnesota Vikings scratch game tickets from Kwik Trip, 770 E. Broadway St. in Winona, on July 28. He took the tickets home and began scratching them. He won $50 on the third ticket and scored a $200,000 win on the fourth ticket.

Yahnke claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on August 3.

AUGUST 2, 2010 — While Willmar resident David Deppa was visiting his son in Cambridge recently, he asked if they could stop somewhere so he could buy his Powerball tickets. They went to Cub Foods, 100 Opportunity Blvd. N. in Cambridge, where Deppa bought five sets of numbers with Power Play for the drawing on July 28.

When he returned to Willmar, Deppa stopped at a store to buy some ice cream and check his ticket. When he got a message that the store couldn’t pay the prize, Deppa asked the clerk to print the winning numbers for him. As four of the first five numbers and the Powerball number on the first line of his ticket matched the numbers drawn, Deppa thought, ‘Wow — $10,000! But I have the Power Play so it’s multiplied.’” Because the Power Play multipler was five for that drawing, he won $50,000. “It was a surprise,” he said. “Power Play was a big plus.”

Deppa claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on July 30.

AUGUST 1, 2010 — Todd Wineberg of Chaska won $27,000 playing Northstar Cash on July 29. He purchased the winning ticket at Bobby & Steve's Auto World, 10740 Normandale Blvd. in Bloomington.

JULY 29, 2010 — “It was one of those random things; I just decided to get Northstar Cash,” DeLena Whebbe said of her decision to buy a quick-pick ticket for the July 26 Northstar Cash drawing. The next morning the West St. Paul resident checked her ticket against the winning numbers and discovered that she won the $70,550 jackpot. “I started calling everybody and I started texting some people,” she recalled.  

The winning ticket was purchased at Kellogg Grocery Store, 111 E. Kellogg Blvd. in St. Paul. Whebbe claimed the prize on July 28.

JULY 29, 2010 — Edward Morton of Bloomington won a $50,000 Lottery prize by playing the $500,000 Mega Bucks Jackpot scratch game.

Morton claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on July 28.

He purchased the winning ticket at SuperAmerica, 8600 Lyndale Ave. S. in Bloomington.

JULY 27, 2010 — Cheryl Peterson of Bloomington purchased two Minnesota Vikings scratch tickets on her way home from work on Friday, July 23. The first ticket she scratched was a $10 winner. Peterson thought that the next ticket probably wasn’t a winner. Luckily, she was wrong about that — the second ticket turned out to be a $200,000 winner.

Peterson said that when she plays scratch tickets, she always leaves the prize amount for last. So when she uncovered “SCORE” on her ticket, she knew she’d won a prize, but didn’t know how much. “I scratched $20 and thought ‘$20, not bad.’ Then I saw $200, ‘Even better.’ Then I kept scratching zeroes and saw it was $200,000. I screamed and called my kids,” she said.

She claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on July 26.

Peterson purchased the $200,000 wining ticket at Rainbow Foods, located at 140 W. 66^th St. in Richfield.

JULY 21, 2010 —  Thad Sweeney of Hoyt Lakes won $68,500 by playing the Northstar Cash game. Sweeney’s quick-pick ticket was one of two tickets sold for the July 15 drawing that matched all five winning numbers drawn (5-7-9-21-23) to split the $137,000 jackpot.

Sweeney purchased the winning ticket at Lucky Seven, located at 201 Kennedy Memorial Drive in Hoyt Lakes.

JULY 19, 2010 — Michael Morehouse of Glencoe won $88,888 by playing the Groovy 8s scratch game. He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on July 16.

The winning ticket was purchased at Travel Mart, 725 Highway 75 N. in Moorhead.

JULY 16, 2010 — Thomas Zoller of Stillwater purchased tickets for the Jan. 1, 2010 Minnesota Millionaire Raffle drawing on Dec. 23, 2009, a couple of hours before the last Raffle ticket was sold at 2:55 p.m. that day.

Zoller and some co-workers were talking about the Minnesota Millionaire Raffle drawing on Jan. 2 when he pulled two tickets out of his wallet. One of his co-workers checked the tickets on the Lottery terminal. The first one wasn’t a winner. After she scanned the second ticket, a message printed that said the prize couldn’t be paid at the store.

“I thought I got my $10 back,” Zoller recalled. “She looked up the [winning] numbers and said, ‘You just won $100,000!’ It was good.”  

The winning ticket was purchased at Cub Foods, 1801 Market Drive in Stillwater. Zoller claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on July 16.

JULY 16, 2010 — If you want to know what it’s like to win the Lottery, just ask Art Olson. According to the Roseville man, “A good feeling comes over you — at least it came over me.”

Olson admitted that he had to do a “double take” when checking his Northstar Cash tickets from the July 15 drawing after he discovered that one of his quick-pick tickets matched all five winning numbers (5-7-9-21-23) to hit the jackpot.

The loyal Lottery player says he “has had a lot of small winners” over the years, “but nothing to write home about” — until now!

Mourado’s Tobacco and Postal, located at 2311 - 37^th Place N.E. in Columbia Heights, sold the winning ticket.

Olson wasn’t the only Northstar Cash jackpot winner on July 15. A second ticket sold in St. Louis County also matched all five winning numbers from that drawing to win half of the $137,000 jackpot. Each ticket is worth $68,500. The second winner has yet to come forward to claim the prize.

JULY 14, 2010 — David Aulwes said he buys Lottery tickets for “a chance to daydream” about winning. The Ham Lake resident’s dream became reality on July 10 when he won $200,000 on a Powerball ticket he purchased for that night’s drawing.

Aulwes was checking some tickets on July 12 when the Lottery terminal printed a message that said he needed to contact the Lottery. His daughter called the Lottery’s winning numbers hotline to determine how much he won. While she listened to the winning numbers from the July 10 drawing, she told her dad, “You matched three numbers; you matched four numbers; you matched five numbers; you didn’t match the Powerball.”

Aulwes thought he won $100,000, but after visiting the Lottery’s website he discovered the prize for matching the first five numbers without the Powerball is $200,000.

He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on July 13.

JULY 14, 2010 — Last week Byron Olney of Rochester printed a copy of the winning Powerball numbers from the Lottery’s website and methodically checked eight months’ worth of tickets. “I never expect to win so I let them sit around for several months,” Olney said.

As he worked his way through the stack of tickets, Olney discovered that the fifth line on the five-line quick-pick ticket he bought for the drawing on April 10, 2010 matched the first five numbers drawn that night to win $200,000. He said he looked at the list of unclaimed prizes and found there was one unclaimed Powerball prize sold in Olmsted County on April 10, 2010.

After Olney and his wife confirmed the win, they sent an e-mail to their three adult children stating they had good news and bad news. The bad news was they had to take time off of work; the good news was they were each receiving $50,000 from their dad’s Powerball win.

The reactions varied: James Olney of Minneapolis said, “I thought it was a joke.” Christopher Olney, also of Minneapolis, thought, “When did dad start playing the Lottery?” Elizabeth Olney-Arms of Minneapolis stated, “I was too busy trying to get my heart rate down” after reading the phrase ‘bad news.’

The family claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on July 13.

The winning ticket was purchased at Silver Lake Foods, 1402 N. Broadway in Rochester.

JULY 14, 2010 — When Warroad resident James Elmquist saw that he had won $77,777 by playing the Lottery’s Super Lucky 7’s scratch game, you could say he was more than just a little shocked.

Elmquist, who has been a fan of the game since it went on sale in June, says he’s used to seeing “$5 winners here and $7 winners there.” On July 10, when Elmquist discovered that his ticket was worth $77,777, he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I thought I was reading the ticket wrong,” he recalled when he claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on July 13. “It was hard to imagine I had won that much money.”

Elmquist purchased the winning ticket at Riverside Bait & Tackle Inc., located at 102 Lake St. N.E. in Warroad.

JULY 12, 2010 — Craig Bair of Minnesota Lake won $200,000 playing the Go For The Green scratch game. The winning ticket was purchased at Food-N-Fuel, 867 State Highway 22 in Minnesota Lake. 

JULY 9, 2010 — Polly Boline of Eden Prairie won $29,000 playing Northstar Cash. The second line of her 10-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on June 29 (3-13-18-21-29) to win the jackpot.

The winning ticket was purchased at Princeton’s Liquors Osseo, 341 Central Ave. in Osseo.

JULY 9, 2010 — “I almost became a millionaire!” exclaimed George Hill of Hines as he arrived at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on July 8. “I was only four [numbers] away from the big one!” he said, referring to his Powerball ticket that matched the first five winning numbers (10-41-44-48-56) and missed the Powerball number of 4 (the Powerball number on his ticket was 7) from the July 7 drawing. When asked if he was excited about winning $200,000, Hill replied, “Oh yeah, you betcha.” Hill purchased the winning ticket at Simonson Station Stores, Inc., located at 1820 Paul Bunyan Drive N.W. in Bemidji.

JUNE 28, 2010 — Pat Lang recalled her father-in-law telling people that they should never buy a Lottery ticket under $5. The Sleepy Eye resident took that advice to heart and bought a $5 Wild Cherry scratch ticket. She won $10 on the ticket, and on June 24 applied her winnings toward another Wild Cherry ticket.

According to Lang, she drove home and scratched the ticket there. She wasn’t wearing her glasses but thought she saw a “Wild” symbol on the ticket and thought the ticket was a winner. With the aid of her glasses, she saw that the prize under the Wild symbol was $100,000!

Lang said her husband, Alan, came up from downstairs at that moment and asked her why she was smiling. “I told him, ‘I think I won $100,000!’ I handed him the ticket and said, ‘Here — you check it!’”

The couple thought the ticket was a $100,000 winner, but drove back to Freedom Valu Center, 400 W. Main St. in Sleepy Eye, to check it. After the clerk confirmed the win, Alan said of his wife, “Her smile was from ear-to-ear and there were a few tears in her eyes.”

JUNE 28, 2010 — St. Paul resident Douglas Larson always knew that he would be rewarded for the good things he has done for other people over the years. “I didn’t know it would come back to me tenfold,” he remarked while presenting a $300,000 winning Puzzle Book scratch game ticket for payment at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on June 24. “It’s finally payday for the caregiver,” he said, smiling.

Larson purchased the winning ticket at SuperAmerica, located at 925 Grand Ave. in St. Paul.

JUNE 28, 2010 — Mattie Yamauchi of Spring Lake Park won a $37,504 Northstar Cash jackpot. The quick-pick ticket that she purchased for the June 24 drawing matched all five winning numbers (3-4-11-19-24).

Yamauchi claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on June 25.

University Holiday Market, 7295 University Ave. N.E. in Fridley, sold the winning ticket.

JUNE 24, 2010 — Hellen Boayla of Woodbury claimed a $250,000 Mega Millions prize. Boayla’s quick-pick ticket matched the first five numbers drawn on June 22.

Holiday, located at 600 Snelling Ave. N. in St. Paul, sold the winning ticket.

JUNE 23, 2010 — Carol Addison of Cambridge decided to buy a ticket for the Jan. 1, 2010 Minnesota Millionaire Raffle drawing at the last minute. She made the purchase the morning of Dec. 23, 2009 at Cub Foods, 8600 - 114^th Ave. N. in Champlin, just hours before the last Raffle ticket was sold at 2:55 p.m. that day.

As the store clerk handed her the ticket, Addison said the clerk told her that she had a chance to win the car (a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid), which was one of 40 bonus prizes offered in addition to the cash prizes.

Addison was getting ready for work shortly after the Jan. 1 drawing when “my husband said, ‘You need to come downstairs before you go to work.’ He had a picture of a Ford Fusion Hybrid on the screen and said, ‘See that car? You won that!’ He went to the next screen and brought up the winning numbers and handed me my ticket.” She compared the number on her ticket to the number drawn to win the car and saw that they matched!

A regular Lottery ticket buyer, Addison said, “It’s fun to think about it [winning] — you never know!”

Addison claimed her prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on June 22. The Ford Fusion Hybrid, which was provided by the Northland Ford Dealers Association, is valued at $40,598 (including withholding taxes).  

JUNE 23, 2010 — Theresa Regis of Eagan won $77,777 by playing the Lottery’s Super Lucky 7s scratch game. She claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on June 22.

After uncovering the prize, Regis double-checked her win by using the store’s ticket checker. She said her hands were shaking as she put the ticket under the scanner.

Sinclair Dino Mart, located at 1815 Diffley Road in Eagan, sold the winning ticket.

JUNE 22, 2010 — Tom Weinhold of Elk River claimed a $100,000 Large Mouth Cash scratch game prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on June 21.

He purchased the winning ticket at Bill’s Superette, located at 8077 Viking Blvd. in Anoka.

JUNE 16, 2010 — Fourteen regular patrons and employees of The Dugout Bar in Mahtomedi each contributed $2 toward the June 9 Gopher 5 drawing because the jackpot was an advertised $460,000.

Scott Wertheiner bought the group’s 28 quick-picks at Freedom Valu Center, 780 Stillwater Road in Mahtomedi. He checked the tickets against the winning numbers on his laptop at the Dugout after the drawing on June 9. After he discovered that the 27^th set of numbers matched the winning numbers (4-5-10-32-35), Wertheiner went into the office to verify the $230,179 win, where the ticket was passed around to several of the group members.

Taun Bartholomew called each of the group members to let them know about the win. As the group claimed the prize on June 15, they unanimously agreed to continue to pool their money.     

The members of “The Dugout Gang” are: Eric Avelallemant of Forest Lake; Karalee Bartholomew and Taun Bartholomew of Hastings; Michael Russell of Little Canada; Frank Falkenberg, Chandra Grossmann and Scott Wertheiner of Mahtomedi; James Bartholomew, Myrna Lund and Kathleen Reeves of Maplewood; Samantha Grand of Oakdale; and Brian Neuser, Eric Spah and Robert Rush of Willernie.

Two tickets matched the winning Gopher 5 numbers drawn on June 9 to split the $460,358 jackpot. Each ticket was worth $230,179.

JUNE 16, 2010 — Steve Helmer of Olivia claimed a $200,000 Powerball prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on June 15.

Helmer said that he and his wife, Dawn Helmer, recently chose a couple of sets of Powerball numbers based on ages and important dates. After only playing the numbers four times, they won a $200,000 prize on June 12.

Steve Helmer said that he called the Lottery’s winning numbers hotline the morning after the drawing and wrote the winning numbers down. When he saw that the first five numbers on the second line of his ticket matched the winning numbers, he was shocked. “I thought, ‘This is not possible.’”

The three previous times that they played the numbers, “We never even got one and suddenly we got five,” he said.

After taking the ticket to a relative’s house to verify that it was a winner, he called Dawn and asked her to go home immediately after work (adding that it wasn’t an emergency).

“I was wondering what was going on,” she recalled. “That Lottery ticket did cross my mind, but then I thought, ‘That can’t be it.’”

When Dawn got home, Steve gave her the good news, but she had a hard time believing it. She asked him to call the hotline again and write down the numbers so she could check them herself. “I had to see it for myself,” she said. “I just kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe it.’”

SuperAmerica, located at 1311 W. Lincoln Ave. in Olivia, sold the winning ticket.

JUNE 15, 2010 — James Drewitz of Faribault, Michael Drewitz of Shakopee and Terry Drewitz of Owatonna shared a $200,000 Platinum Payout prize.    

Hy-Vee Gas, located at 1930 Grant St. in Faribault, sold the winning ticket.

JUNE 15, 2010 — A loyal Gopher 5 player for 20 years, Ken Falk of Rosemount says he “always gets a feeling” when he hears that the jackpot was won. On the morning of June 12, he thought, “Just maybe it was me.” After checking the numbers in the paper, he discovered that he was the sole winner of the $100,000 jackpot from the June 11 drawing.  

“You don’t believe it,” Falk recalled. “I checked it again and again.” To make sure the winning numbers weren’t printed wrong in the newspaper, he went to the Lottery’s Web site. The third line on his quick-pick ticket matched all five winning numbers drawn (1-5-9-20-24).

 “I had a lot of waiting to do this weekend,” Falk said. “I was up all night just thinking about it.” The wait was over when he arrived at the Lottery’s headquarters on Monday morning to claim the prize. Falk agreed that the sleepless nights were definitely worth it.

Falk purchased the winning ticket at Holiday, located at 15066 Chippendale Ave W. in Rosemount.

JUNE 15, 2010 — On June 13 David Ellison thought, “Today is my dad’s birthday; today is my lucky day.” The Pine River man decided to buy Northstar Cash numbers for that night’s drawing, a decision that netted him the $61,756 jackpot!

Ellison said he called the Lottery’s winning numbers line after the drawing that evening to see if he won anything. After listening to the winning numbers he thought that the second set of numbers on his three-line quick-pick ticket matched the numbers drawn (7-11-16-26-31). “I called three times — I couldn’t tell if it was a 15 or 16. I asked my buddy and he said it was 16. I still can’t believe it!”

The winning ticket was purchased at Johnson Oil Up North Inc., 112 Front St. in Pine River.

JUNE 11, 2010 — “I immediately went into shock,” Randy Fashant recalled when he discovered that one of his Gopher 5 quick-pick tickets from the June 9 drawing matched all five winning numbers to win $230,179.

The Burnsville man called the Lottery’s winning numbers hotline for the second time to verify that he was hearing it correctly. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. Still in doubt, Fashant went to the nearest Lottery retailer to have the ticket scanned. “I got a printout saying I had to claim it at the Lottery headquarters so I knew it had to be real.”

That’s where he headed the following day to claim the prize that he shared with Dawn Fashant of Isanti.

Kwik Trip, located at 501 Crystal Lake Road W. in Burnsville, sold the winning ticket.

Fashant’s ticket was one of two tickets sold for the June 9 drawing to match all five numbers drawn (4-5-10-32-35) to split the $460,358 jackpot.

JUNE 10, 2010 — Lakefield resident Bruce Bakalyar bought a quick-pick ticket for the June 3 Northstar Cash drawing at Expressway Lakefield, located at 402 Highway 86. He didn’t check the ticket until Sunday evening (June 6), when he scanned it on the Lottery ticket checker. Bakalyar got a message that he needed to contact the Lottery. He remembers thinking, “What is this?” After conferring with the store clerk, he learned that he won the jackpot.

Bakalyar’s wife, Jan, was waiting for him in the car. “I went to the doorway and yelled, ‘Jan, come here!’” Bakalyar recalled. “She came in and I said, ‘Look at this!’” The clerk told her that her husband won $85,000. (The Northstar Cash jackpot was advertised at $85,000, but the actual jackpot amount was $87,336.)

“I was skeptical,” Jan Bakalyar recalled. Her skepticism vanished when her husband received his prize check at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on June 8.

JUNE 8, 2010 — Ben Ellis of Hill City purchased a $500,000 Riches scratch ticket on Friday night (June 4) from M & H Gas, 204 N.W. 4^th St. in Grand Rapids. He scratched the ticket while he was sitting in his car in the store’s parking lot.

After he revealed a match in game 2, Ellis told his fiance, “I won!” and started scratching the prize amount. “I saw $5 and thought, ‘OK for a $20 ticket,’” Ellis recalled. “Then I saw $50 and thought, ‘That’s good.’ When it was $50,000, I said, ‘That’s even better!’”

JUNE 8, 2010 — Dogic Mujedin of Blaine won a $300,000 prize by playing the Lottery’s Casino Game Book. Mujedin claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on June 7.

Holiday, located at 9933 Ulysses St. N.E. in Blaine, sold the winning ticket.

JUNE 4, 2010 — A Karlstad resident discovered that “dreams really do come true.” Sarah Hougard’s dream was to one day win the Lottery and on June 2 that dream became reality.

On her way home from work that day, Hougard stopped at Petro Pumper, Inc. (17107 Highway 59 N.E.) in Thief River Falls to redeem a $5 winning Fire ‘N’ Dice scratch ticket for another ticket. As she scratched the ticket she discovered she had won again. However, this time she won one of the game's $100,000 top prizes. “I was in shock and I started crying,” recalled Hougard. She immediately called her husband and sister to share the good news.

“I didn’t really believe it until I went to the local gas station to have it checked,” she said. “That’s when it really sunk in.”

Hougard and her husband made the trip to the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville the following day to claim the prize.

MAY 28, 2010 — John Velo and Marc Velo, both of Eagan, and Gerald Velo of Savage, shared a $200,000 Powerball prize from the April 14, 2010 drawing.

The first five numbers on the quick-pick ticket purchased at Holiday, 1065 Diffley Road in Eagan, matched those drawn to win $200,000.

MAY 28, 2010 — Jewel Plowman and Arnold Plowman, both of Willmar, shared a $40,000 Mega Millions prize they won on May 25, 2010. They won $10,000 for matching four of the first five numbers and the Mega Ball number on the fifth line of the five-line ticket.

Because they purchased the Megaplier option, their prize was multiplied by the Megaplier number (which was 4 for that drawing) to win $40,000. The winning ticket was purchased at SuperAmerica, 415 S. First St. in Willmar.

MAY 25, 2010 — Paul Peterson of Forest Lake won $53,333 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. Peterson’s ticket was one of two tickets sold for the May 21 drawing that matched all five numbers drawn (16-26-27-28-31) to split the $106,667 jackpot.

Peterson claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on May 24.

Forest Lake Moto Mart, located at 1898 S. Lake St. in Forest Lake, sold the winning ticket.

MAY 25, 2010 — Isaac Yamoah of Rosemount won half of a $106,667 Northstar Cash jackpot from the May 21 drawing.

Yamoah’s ticket was one of two sold that matched all five winning numbers to split the jackpot. Yamoah picked the winning numbers (16-26-27-28-31) to win the $53,333 prize.  

He claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on May 24.

Nash of Rosemount Inc., located at 14515 Dodd Blvd. in Rosemount, sold the winning ticket.

MAY 21, 2010 — Brenda Fobbe of Maple Lake stopped at Roger’s Amoco Inc. in Maple Lake to purchase a loaf of bread and left with a $100,000 winning Fire ‘N’ Dice scratch ticket.

Fobbe played the ticket in her car. As she scratched the ticket, she saw that she had won and then began to uncover the prize. “I thought, ‘Oh, I won $10. No, I won $100. Oh my, I won $1,000.’ Then I uncovered the fourth zero and I scratched the rest of it really quickly. When I saw it was $100,000, I thought I must have done something wrong and I read the directions again.”

Fobbe took the ticket back into the store to show the store employee and to verify that it was a winner. “I said to her, ‘I think I won.’ She said, ‘Did you win $100?’ No, more. ‘$1,000?’ No, I think I won $100,000. We all screamed,” Fobbe recalled.

Fobbe claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on May 20.

Roger’s Amoco Inc. is located at 300 Highway 55 N.W. in Maple Lake

MAY 19, 2010 — Douglas Eastlund won $200,000 by playing Powerball. The second line of his five-line quick-pick ticket matched the first five numbers drawn on April 3 to win the $200,000 prize.

Eastlund claimed the prize on May 18 at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville.

Holiday, located at 8946 Lyndale Ave. in Bloomington, sold the winning ticket.

MAY 19, 2010 — Dan Dorgan of Eagan won $200,000 by playing Powerball. The seventh line of his 10-line quick-pick ticket matched the first five numbers drawn on May 12 to win the $200,000 prize.

Dorgan claimed the prize on May 17 at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville.

PDQ, located at 4198 Pilot Knob Road in Eagan, sold the winning ticket.

MAY 18, 2010 — Carol Shannon of Vadnais Heights purchased a three-line quick-pick ticket for the May 7, 2010 Northstar Cash drawing from Rainbow Foods, 441 Highway 96 in Shoreview. The third set of numbers on her ticket matched the numbers drawn that night to win the $33,381 jackpot.

After she discovered her $33,381 win more than a week later, Shannon said, “I had to check five times. I was thinking, ‘This can’t be true!’ I went a whole week not knowing I had a winning ticket!”

MAY 18, 2010 — Vanessa Torkkola of Wadena won a half million dollar prize by playing the Lottery’s $500,000 Riches scratch game.

Torkkola claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on May 17.

She purchased the winning ticket at Holiday, located at 101 Jefferson St. N., in Wadena.

MAY 14, 2010 — A 62-player network who calls themselves “Lottery Network 2010” pooled their money for the Mega Millions drawing on April 23, 2010 and won $250,000! Each group member contributed $1 for the drawing.

Group leader Harvey Lesser bought the 62 quick-picks at Freedom Valu Center, 4140 Berkshire Lane N. in Plymouth. As he was checking the tickets the next day, he found that one set of numbers matched four of the first five numbers drawn to win $150. He took a break to run some errands before he checked all of the tickets. It was when he returned home and checked the remaining tickets that Lesser discovered the first five numbers from another set of numbers matched the winning numbers 19-26-28-37-52 (the Mega Ball was 18).

After his wife verified the match, he took the ticket to a Lottery retailer, where he scanned it on the Lottery ticket scanner and got the message to claim the prize at the Lottery office.     

Lesser said he initially told the group members that they won “$150 plus.” After he contacted the Lottery to determine what the group needed to do to claim the prize, he announced the $250,000 win to the group in a parking lot.

The members of Lottery Network 2010 by city are: Justin Pechon of Albertville; Steven Nelson of Andover; Randy Seaver of Belle Plaine; David Fischer and Kevin Sexton of Bloomington; Dean Yerks of Brooklyn Park; Timothy Thesing of Buffalo; Michael James of Burnsville; John Bonham, Charles Littfin, James Moline and Richard Rasmussen of Chanhassen; Vernon Edwardson, Jose Gonzalez, Daniel O’Neil and William Sinnen of Chaska; Eric Wirtz of Cologne; Todd Linaman of Crystal; Jeffrey Deming of Eagan; Michael Phillips and Kevin Washington of Elk River; John Olejnicak Jr. and Stephen Roufs of Eden Prairie; Vernon Draeger of Glencoe; Douglas Johnson, Kay Leine and Rajendra Sanichar of Lakeville; Ryan Goetze of Lester Prairie; Harvey Lesser and Penny Nordwall of Maple Grove; Jordon Luoma of Minneapolis; Fania Feldman and Timothy Murphy of Minnetonka; Iris Hecker of Minnetrista; Tracey Hatlestad, Curtis Kaiser, John Kaiser and David Nyberg of Mound; John Bizjak of New Brighton; Jason Lesser of New Hope; Leslie Splittstoesser of North St. Paul; Richard Patzoldt and Scott Pelletier of Norwood Young America; Bradley Roemer, Russell Saatoff and Terry Saumer of Prior Lake; David Couillard of Richfield; Daryl Enninga of Rogers; Darin Humann of St. Francis; Troy Courneya of St. Paul Park; Wesley Lahti, Rodney Sipprell and Ron Snyder of Savage; Chanthol Chak and Kevin Ellingboe of Shakopee; Eric Tischler of Spring Park; Justin Beilby and Daniel Goetze of Waconia; James Raska of Wayzata; Steven Bates of Young America; Timothy Michaelson of Wyoming and Elizabeth Duffy of Zimmerman.   

MAY 13, 2010 — Chad Lizakowski of Oakdale won $200,000 by playing the Lottery’s $200,000 Platinum Payout scratch game.

Oakdale Holiday, located at 3344 Hadley Ave. S. in Oakdale, sold the winning ticket.

MAY 12, 2010 — Bobbie Reynolds of Apple Valley won $200,000 by playing the Lottery’s Double Diamond Slots scratch game.

She bought the winning ticket at Rainbow Foods, 1276 Town Centre Drive in Eagan.

MAY 10, 2010 — Bill Thalhuber of Maplewood won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Large Mouth Cash scratch game.

Rainbow Foods, located at 2501 White Bear Ave. in Maplewood, sold the winning ticket.

MAY 6, 2010 — Rick Ferraro of Plymouth says he enjoys playing for the “bigger jackpots.” When he noticed that the Mega Millions jackpot was worth a whopping $266 million for the May 4 drawing, he knew he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to purchase some tickets. He ended up buying three $5 quick-pick tickets at three different Lottery retailers, hoping to get the “lucky one.”

While he didn’t hit the jackpot, Ferraro certainly isn’t complaining. The fourth line of the first $5 ticket he purchased matched the first five numbers drawn (9-21-31-36-43 and the Megaball was 8) on May 4 to win $250,000!

“It’s always something I’ve dreamt about, but never actually thought would happen,” Ferraro said when he claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on May 5.   

Ferraro purchased the winning ticket at Holiday, located at 1325 E. Wayzata Blvd. in Wayzata.

MAY 4, 2010 — Ornulf Volden of Fargo, N.D. won $25,000 by playing the Minnesota State Lottery’s Northstar Cash game.

The eighth line of Volden’s 10-line quick-pick ticket for the May 1 Northstar Cash drawing matched all five numbers drawn (3-11-12-14-27) to win the jackpot.

M & H Gas, located at 510 Main Ave. in Moorhead, sold the winning ticket.

Volden claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Detroit Lakes on May 3.

APRIL 30, 2010 — When Wendy Gornick of Hibbing buys a scratch ticket, she looks for the games that have been on sale for a while. While she was at Hibbing Short Stop, 2202 - 1^st Ave. in Hibbing, she decided to buy a Cash Extravaganza ticket.

She scratched the ticket while she was paying bills. After uncovering the $200,000 prize, she said, “I kept yelling for my daughter,” who was asleep. When she couldn’t raise her, Gornick said she yelled at other family members to get up. When they asked what was wrong, she asked them to check the ticket for her, telling them, “I don’t think it’s really happening!”

 As she claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on April 29, Gornick said, “I’ve been hoping to win something. It’s perfect timing!”               

APRIL 26, 2010 — Michelle Wolfe of Ellendale claimed a $250,000 Mega Millions prize. Wolfe’s quick-pick ticket matched the first five numbers drawn on April 20.

Kwik Trip, located at 1220 S. Oak St. in Owatonna, sold the winning ticket. This store also sold a Sizzlin’ 7s scratch ticket worth $77,777 that was claimed on April 7 by a Medford resident.

APRIL 22, 2010 — Stacey Hill of Buhl won $200,000 on a Powerball ticket he purchased for the drawing on March 24, 2010. The ticket was purchased at Buhl Short Stop, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Buhl.

APRIL 21, 2010 — An Austin resident is the first to catch a $100,000 prize from the Large Mouth Cash scratch game. Duane Charnecki reeled in his large cash prize on April 18 after making a stop at Ankeny Mini Mart, 1400 N.W. 14^th St. in Austin, where be purchased two of the $5 tickets. As Charnecki was scratching the second ticket, he asked the store clerk, “What’s the biggest winner you can get on this game?” Before he could get an answer, he said, “Does it look like this?” as he revealed a $100,000 top prize. 

“Our lives changed a little bit today,” Charnecki said to his wife when he got home later that day. “She looked at me like, ‘What did you do?’”

Charnecki claimed the prize on April 20. While he says he plans to be “pretty low-key” with his winnings, he would like to buy a new swing set for his grandchildren and he already splurged on four Minnesota Twins^® tickets. “I got the best seats we could buy,” he said with a smile.

APRIL 19, 2010 — “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d win,” said Trisha Risken as she claimed a $56,544 Northstar Cash jackpot at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on April 19. “Never say never, right?’” she added a moment later.

The quick pick ticket that the Big Lake resident purchased for the April 16 Northstar Cash drawing matched all five numbers drawn (6-9-12-13-16) to win the jackpot.

Risken said she learned that she won by calling the Lottery’s winning numbers line on April 16. “I was jumping up and down. I thought, ‘This isn’t real. This is real!’” Waiting all weekend to claim the prize was tough. “I’ve hardly had any sleep all weekend. Maybe I’ll sleep better tonight,” she said.

Holiday, located at 281 Jefferson Blvd. in Big Lake, sold the winning ticket.

APRIL 19, 2010 — Lynn Christinson of Long Lake won the $41,688 Northstar Cash jackpot on April 7. She claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on April 16.

The winning ticket was purchased at Big Island General Store, 2160 W. Wayzata Blvd. in Long Lake.

APRIL 9, 2010 — Jacki Butler of Medford won $77,777 by playing the Lottery’s Sizzlin’ 7s scratch game. She claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on April 7.

Butler purchased her winning ticket at Kwik Trip, 1220 S. Oak St. in Owatonna. “I stopped for pop and had a $10 winning ticket, so I thought I might as well give it a shot and bought two more $5 tickets,” she said. While scratching one of the tickets, she uncovered a winning symbol and then proceeded to uncover the prize amount. “First I saw $77 and thought, ‘Oh good, I won $77.’ Then I saw another 7 and then another and another. I sat there for a while looking at it and I said, ‘This can’t be.’ I probably said it five times.”

APRIL 7, 2010 — Martin Miller of Princeton recently received the payday of a lifetime — a $50,000 Lottery prize he won by playing the $500,000 Payday scratch game. “It will certainly come in handy,” he said as he claimed the prize on April 6.

While Miller says he was unsure of what he won when he scratched the ticket on April 5, he knew he had a big winner. “It took me about an hour to calm down and figure out what I had actually won.” When he discovered his ticket was worth $50,000, he couldn’t have been more excited. “It’s a lot of money,” he said.

Miller purchased the winning ticket at Circle 9, located at 106 - 9^th Ave. in Princeton.  

APRIL 7, 2010 — Wayne Larkin of Coon Rapids won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Wild Cherry scratch game. Larkin claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on April 6.

The winning ticket was purchased at Mario's Stop N Shop, 13725 Crosstown Drive N.W. in Andover.

APRIL 6, 2010 — Kristine McKinney of Minneapolis won $500,000 by playing the Lottery’s $500,000 Payday scratch game. McKinney claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on April 6.

Mourado’s Tobacco and Postal, located at 2311 - 37^th Place N.E. in Columbia Heights, sold the winning ticket.

APRIL 5, 2010 — On April 1, “my fuel light came on,” said Thomas Jensen of Willmar. He stopped for gas at Casey’s General Store, 1021 - 19th Ave. S.W. in Willmar. Jensen said he normally pays at the pump, but “I saw the ads [for the Lottery’s game books] and thought that game looked cool. I had been hemming and hawing about buying one, so I decided to do it.”

Jensen went home to scratch the ticket. “I saw a Royal Flush [for a $100,000 prize]. I reread the instructions and was thinking, ‘This can’t be an April Fools’ joke, can it?’ It ran through my head that it was April Fools’ Day.” As Jensen continued scratching the ticket, he found a second $100,000 prize on the same ticket. “I thought, ‘No way — there’s another one [$100,000 prize] in here?”

Thinking he won $200,000, Jensen asked his wife to look at his ticket when she got home from work. Before they put what they thought was the $200,000 winning ticket in their safe, she found the third $100,000 prize on one of the other tickets in the game book, bringing the total prize to $300,000. “It was exciting!” Jensen said.

APRIL 2, 2010 — William Klicker of Warroad won $300,000 by playing the Lottery’s Casino Game Book. He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on April 1.

Warroad Municipal Liquor Store, located at Highway 11 in Warroad, sold the winning ticket.

APRIL 1, 2010 — Aristotle Trinity of Minneapolis won $42,244 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. The fifth line of Trinity’s five-line ticket matched all five numbers drawn (1-5-9-15-16) on March 31 to win the $42,244 jackpot.

Trinity claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on April 1.

Holiday, located at 4601 Hiawatha Ave. in Minneapolis, sold the winning ticket.