FEBRUARY 3, 2012 — While Little Falls resident Josh Groshong was waiting for the pizza he ordered at Casey’s General Store, 1205 Haven Road in Little Falls on Jan. 31, he decided to buy a couple of scratch tickets. He took a penny from the “Take a Penny” tray at the counter and scratched the $200,000 Lucky Diamonds ticket.

 “I saw that I matched a number, then I saw that I won, then I saw what it was — $50,000!” Groshong exclaimed. “I asked [the clerk], ‘Is this real?’” The clerk scanned the ticket and got the message that the prize needed to be claimed at the Lottery.

“I didn’t eat the pizza when I got home — I was too excited!” Groshong said. He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Feb. 1. 

FEBRUARY 2, 2012 — Norman Petri of North Oaks won $100,000 on a Coffee Break Crossword scratch ticket he purchased at North Oaks Holiday, 4540 Centerville Road in White Bear Lake. Petri claimed the prize on Feb. 1.

JANUARY 31, 2012 — Bradley Monitor of Minnetonka won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Shake Rattle & Roll^™ scratch game.

Monitor claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Jan. 30. He purchased the winning ticket at Holiday Stationstore, located at 7180 – 42^nd Ave. N. in New Hope. 

JANUARY 31, 2012 — Margot Trowbridge of Rochester won $27,000 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game.

The third line of Trowbridge’s 10 line quick-pick ticket matched all five winning numbers drawn on Jan. 30 (3-7-11-13-25) to win the jackpot.

Carroll’s Corn, located at 20 – 2^nd Ave. S.W. in Rochester, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 30, 2012 — Robert Greenwell of Eagan won $27,000 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. The fourth line of his five-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Jan. 27 to win the jackpot.

Cedar Cliff BP, located at 4600 Slater Road in Eagan, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 30, 2012 — Helmou Yianick of Barron, Wis. won $250,000 by playing Mega Millions. The third line of his five-line quick-pick ticket matched the first five numbers drawn on Jan. 27.

Holiday, located at 7525 Brooklyn Blvd. in Brooklyn Park, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 27, 2012 — Owatonna residents Judith Peterson and Jeffrey Hellman are proof that it only takes one ticket to win. The co-workers pooled their money to purchase a $10 Minnesota Millionaire Raffle ticket and ended up winning one of the $1 million top prizes.

“It’s all it takes,” Hellman said when he and Peterson claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Jan. 27. Peterson agreed, saying, “I guess we just got the right number!” Peterson said that she is, “happy to share this experience with Jeff and his family.”

The winning ticket — ticket number 300691 — was purchased at Owatonna Fuel & Food, 401 N. Cedar Ave. in Owatonna.    

JANUARY 27, 2012 — Mike Blackwell of St. Paul won $46,191 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game.  One of Blackwell’s quick-pick tickets from the Jan. 24 drawing matched all five winning numbers to win the jackpot.

Blackwell purchased the ticket at Cub Foods, located at 2197 Hudson Road in St. Paul.

The winning Northstar Cash numbers drawn on Jan. 24 were 2-6-26-27-29.

JANUARY 27, 2012 — Brian Olson of Princeton won $30,000 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. His quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Jan. 1 to win the jackpot.

Coborn’s, located at 7900 Sunwood Drive N.W. in Ramsey, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 25, 2012 — Kenneth Forner of St. Paul won $25,000 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. His quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Jan. 15 to win the jackpot.

Holiday, located at 1444 E. Minnehaha in St. Paul, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 20, 2012 — “It was a good day!” said Zach Lee of Montevideo as he talked about winning a $100,000 scratch game prize.

Lee purchased a Funky 5s scratch ticket at Dooley’s Handistop, located at 631 N. 6^th St. in Montevideo and won $5. “I traded that in for another and I was standing right at the counter when I scratched it. I saw a lot of zeros when I was scratching it off,” he recalled. When he saw that he had won $100,000, “I did a double take, looked a couple of times, jumped up and down, ran out the door and called my wife!”

JANUARY 19, 2012 — A group of four friends from Montevideo won $200,000 by playing the Lottery’s Triple 777 scratch game.

Shawn Ostenson, Todd Ostenson, Scott Berglund and James Backer claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Jan. 18.

The winning ticket was purchased at Food-N-Fuel, located at 632 N. 7^th St. in Montevideo.

JANUARY 19, 2012 — Todd Mouw of Burnsville claimed a $43,500 Northstar Cash prize on Jan. 17.

Mouw’s ticket was one of two tickets sold for the Jan. 14 drawing that matched all five winning numbers drawn (9-10-15-21-23) to split the $85,000 jackpot.

He purchased the winning ticket at Gateway Stop N Go, located at 451 West Burnsville Parkway in Burnsville.

JANUARY 18, 2012 — “You always hope, but you never expect to win,” said Sandy Conrad as her husband, Don Conrad of Grand Rapids, claimed a Hot Lotto jackpot worth $2.61 million.

“I always buy a ticket,” said Sandy. “I didn’t think much about it. When I went to work on Monday, somebody said, ‘Someone in Itasca County won Hot Lotto!’ I had to work late and when I got home, Don said, ‘Get on the computer [to check the winning numbers.]’ I printed off the numbers and checked.” She saw that all six numbers on the first line of her five-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers and told Don.

“I jumped up and ran out there and looked. I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Don is retired, but Sandy had to go to work at the Grand Rapids Herald-Review newspaper the next morning to ask for a day off to claim the prize.

River Road Market, located at 302 – 7^th Ave. S.E. in Grand Rapids, sold the winning ticket and will receive a $10,000 bonus.

The cash option is worth $1.98 million before required tax withholding.

JANUARY 13, 2012 — Congratulations to Dyllan Blitvich of St. Cloud on winning $100,000 by playing the $100,000 Taxes Paid scratch game.

The Lottery is paying approximately $47,600 in withholding taxes on Blitvich’s prize. “This was so random,” Blitvich recalled when he claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Jan. 11. He admitted that his big win “took a while to sink in.”

Blitvich purchased the winning ticket at Sammy’s Pizza Inc., 58 W. Division, in Waite Park on Jan. 10.

JANUARY 13, 2012 — Ray Tedford of Lino Lakes won a 2012 Ford Mustang on a Minnesota Millionaire Raffle ticket. 

“I never win anything,” Tedford said. “I was surprised. I thought it was pretty unreal.” The winning ticket — ticket number 205443 — was purchased at Gas Plus, 7033 Jorgensen Lane S. in Cottage Grove.  

The Minnesota State Lottery and Northland Ford Dealers Association provided the 2012 Ford Mustang.  

JANUARY 12, 2012 — Jenean Rudnitski said her sister and brother-in-law gave each of their immediate family members a Raffle ticket as a gift for the holiday season. On Jan. 2, the St. Cloud woman said she checked her ticket and was stunned to see that it was one of five ticket numbers to win $100,000.

“I called my sister [to tell her she won],” Rudnitski explained. “I screamed and I was crying. She said, ‘You did not!’ I said, ‘Yes I did!’ I texted it to her. She didn’t believe me and called my mom and said I was a good actress!”

Rudnitski claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Jan. 10. The winning ticket was purchased at Holiday, 405 Central Ave. S. in Milaca.

JANUARY 12, 2012 — Moorhead resident Albert Santoya bought some gas and a Gopher the Big Money lottery ticket on Jan. 6 from Stop N Go, 1702 – 30^th Ave. S. in Moorhead. “The clerk told me, ‘Good luck!’” Santoya recalled.

He sat in his car and started scratching the ticket. “The fourth number matched,” Santoya said. “As I scratched [the prize amount] I thought, “Oh gosh!’” The prize was $100,000.

JANUARY 12, 2012 — Brad Engel of Howard Lake won $40,334 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. His quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Dec. 11 to win the jackpot.

Casey’s General Store, located at 150 Cokato St. E. in Cokato, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 11, 2012 — Karin Dreyer of Brooklyn Park won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Minnesota Millionaire Raffle game.

Dreyer, who is a fan of the Raffle game, says she normally checks her tickets right away after the New Year’s Day drawing each year, but this year it took a little longer than normal. When she finally checked her ticket a couple of days after the drawing, Dreyer’s first thought was, “This can’t be true,” she recalled. “I got really nervous — I kept looking at it several times. Then I was jumping up and down and my dog thought something was wrong with me!”

Dreyer claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters on Jan. 9. She purchased the winning ticket at Bill’s Superette, 3100 N. Brookdale Drive in Brooklyn Park.

JANUARY 11, 2012 — This was the fourth year that Mike Snyder of Wadena played the Lottery’s Minnesota Millionaire Raffle game. Usually he purchases one ticket; this year he decided to purchase two tickets. That was a very lucky decision because the second ticket ended up being worth $1 million.

“I always buy a ticket because I figure my chance is as good as anybody else’s,” said Snyder. “I never dreamed of winning $1 million. I thought if I won one of those smaller prizes, that would be great.”

Holiday, located at 101 Jefferson St. N. in Wadena, sold the winning ticket. Holiday Companies received a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

JANUARY 6, 2012 — Timothy French of East Grand Forks won a 2012 Ford Edge on a Minnesota Millionaire Raffle ticket. The winning ticket — ticket number 417962 — was purchased at Holiday, 5310 Highway 29 S. in Alexandria.  

The Minnesota State Lottery and Northland Ford Dealers Association provided the 2012 Ford Edge.  

JANUARY 6, 2012 — James Putnam of Duluth purchased a quick-pick ticket for the Dec. 26, 2011 Gopher 5 drawing. That ticket was the only winner of the $1,242,385 jackpot for that night’s drawing. Putnam claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Jan. 5, 2012.

Putnam bought the winning ticket at Miller Hill Super One Foods, located at 5401 Burning Tree Road in Duluth. The store will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. This same store sold a Hot Lotto^® jackpot ticket worth $3.62 million for the drawing on Feb. 28, 2009.

“We are absolutely delighted that we sold another big jackpot-winning ticket,” said Jim Miner, Jr., President of Miner’s Inc., the owner of Super One Foods. “The $10,000 retailer bonus we earned in February 2009 was donated to Second Harvest Food Bank. We will also donate the $5,000 from the sale of the Gopher 5 jackpot to Second Harvest.”

Miller Hill Super One Foods store manager Bob Shaw said, “Mr. Putnam is a regular customer at the store and a very nice person. He’s got a big heart, a very big heart. We’re all very happy for him.”

JANUARY 6, 2012 — Trina Cooper of Inver Grove Heights won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Minnesota Millionaire Raffle game.

Cooper said she told people that she would win a Raffle prize. “I always say, ‘When I win the lottery on …’ and this time I did!” she said. “I told people that I would be winning one of the trip prizes. This is better!” Her husband, Doug Cooper added, “It’s a nice way to start the new year.”

M & H Gas, located at 721 Arcade St. in St. Paul, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 5, 2012 —The New Year is off to a great start for Jim Schellberg of Rosemount after winning a $100,000 Minnesota Millionaire Raffle prize.

Schellberg confessed that he “had to look at the ticket quite a few times before it sunk in.” His wife, Krislyn, agreed that the win is “hard to fathom.”

Schellberg’s ticket matched the winning number 455587 drawn on Jan. 1, 2012 to win the $100,000 prize.

The couple claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters on Jan. 3. Holiday, located at 4595 Nicols Road in Eagan, sold the winning ticket.

JANUARY 5, 2012 — Robert Waltenburg of Duluth claimed a $100,000 Wheel of Fortune_® scratch game prize on Jan. 4.

Waltenburg purchased the winning ticket at Holiday, located at 2432 London Road in Duluth.

JANUARY 3, 2012 — Phylis Thompson of Minneapolis won $39,308 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game.

The second line on Thompson’s two-line quick-pick ticket matched all five winning numbers drawn on Dec. 26 (2-4-7-10-14) to win the jackpot.

Thompson claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters on Dec. 30.

DECEMBER 30, 2011 — Lydia Ramoo of Savage won $200,000 by playing Powerball. The fifth line of Ramoo’s five-line quick-pick ticket matched the first five numbers drawn on Nov. 9.

A&S Kwik Market, located at 7940 Nicollet Ave. in Bloomington, sold the winning ticket.

DECEMBER 30, 2011 —Kelsey Hollenkamp of Ogilvie won $200,000 by playing the Lottery’s Gopher the Maximum Money scratch game.

When she uncovered the $200,000 win, “I didn’t believe it. I started crying,” she said.

Sinclair/Dino Mart, located at 125 McKinley St. N. in Cambridge, sold the winning ticket.

DECEMBER 23, 2011 — Dave Peterson cashed in a winning lottery ticket worth $7 around noon yesterday (Dec. 22) at Freedom Valu Center, 1726 Vermillion St. in Hastings. He bought a Powerball ticket, a Mega Millions ticket and one Sizzlin’ 7s scratch ticket.

The Hastings resident said he drove to his sister’s house, where he scratched the ticket. “I scratched all the symbols, then I scratched the prize from left to right and saw all the 7s,” he recalled after uncovering five 7s for a $77,777 prize. “I had to stare at it for a while!”

Peterson showed the ticket to his sister, telling her, “‘Look at this!’ We sat there and looked at each other. Then I said, ‘Yeah!’”

He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters on Dec. 22.

DECEMBER 23, 2011 — A winning Holiday Spectacular ticket worth $100,000 was sold at Kwik Trip, 872 W. Broadway in Winona. Rebecca Breitung of Pepin, Wis. claimed the prize on Dec. 22. 

DECEMBER 23, 2011 — Michele Kiger of Prior Lake won $137,929 on a $5 Bingo Progressive Print-N-Play^® ticket.

Kiger said her winning experience seemed “surreal” as she claimed her prize at the Lottery’s headquarters on Dec. 22. “You have the hope of something like this happening but you don’t really think it will be you,” she explained. “But I guess it can be!”

Kiger says the win will allow her family to “enjoy Christmas a little bit more this year!”

She purchased the winning ticket at SuperAmerica, located at 1195 Canterbury Road S. in Shakopee, on Dec. 21. 

DECEMBER 22, 2011 — Bernice Dalluge of Brandon won $34,545 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. The second line of her two-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Dec. 18.

Dalluge found out she won after her husband looked up the winning numbers on the Lottery’s website. She said that she was surprised and was worried that maybe there was some sort of mistake. “Right away, I asked, ‘Is it the right date?’” she explained.

Knotty Pine Bait & Gas, located at 103 Central Ave. in Brandon, sold the winning ticket.

DECEMBER 19, 2011 — Benjamin Wogen of St. Louis Park bought a five-line quick-pick ticket for the Dec. 14 Powerball drawing while he was at SuperAmerica, 6955 Market St. in Golden Valley that afternoon to fill his car with gas.

At 11:30 p.m. that night he and his fiancée checked the ticket after they got home from the Minnesota Wild hockey game. Wogen used an iPad to check the winning numbers against the numbers on his ticket. “I was looking at both and thought I misread them,” was his thought after the first five numbers matched.

He handed the ticket to his fiancée and said, “Can you read me the second line on this?” Then he handed her the iPad and asked, “Can you read me the numbers on this?” She confirmed that the first five numbers drawn matched those on Wogen’s ticket to win the $200,000 prize.

DECEMBER 14, 2011 — Jodell Weinhandl of Inver Grove Heights claimed a $200,000 Powerball prize at Lottery headquarters on Dec. 13. The second line on Weinhandl’s five-line quick-pick ticket matched the first five winning numbers drawn on Dec. 10 to win the $200,000 prize.

Weinhandl purchased the winning ticket at Holiday, located at 6380 E. Concord Blvd in Inver Grove Heights.

The winning Powerball numbers drawn on Dec. 10, 2011 are 4-19-33-41-59 and the Powerball is 9.

DECEMBER 13, 2011 — Kim Reak and Eileen Segna often get together to buy and scratch lottery tickets. The Montgomery residents, who are friends and also local business owners, got together at the K R Monty Bar & Hotel, which Reak owns, for their mini scratch party after their respective businesses closed on Tuesday, Dec. 6. (Segna owns the Happy Hour Bar.)

The duo scratched a few Win for Life game book tickets they bought at the K R Monty Bar & Hotel, cashing in the winning tickets for additional ones. The ladies got to work, with Segna scratching and Reak totaling the prize. Segna said, “I started scratching in the middle of the book and found a $1,000 prize doubled for $2,000. I scratched $5,000. I asked Kim, ‘How much is that?’ She said, ‘$9,000.’ I found another $5,000 and Kim said, ‘$14,000!’ I scratched again and it was up to $19,000! I scratched again and won $500.”

Segna kept scratching but they lost count of their total winnings. Reak got a calculator and determined they won $49,500. But they knew there was a $50,000 prize, so they kept scratching until they found the last $500, for a total win of $50,000.

“We were dancing and hugging each other,” Segna said. “It was 11 p.m. so it was too late to call anybody.” Reak added, “It was pretty darn exciting — it doesn’t happen every day! The K R Monty Bar & Hotel is located at 222 First St. S. in Montgomery. Reak and Segna claimed their prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Dec. 9.    

DECEMBER 13, 2011 — Tom Olson of Osage won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Holiday Spectacular game.

T & M Express, located at 1104 E. 1^st St. in Park Rapids, sold the winning ticket.

DECEMBER 6, 2011 — Howard Rapp of Farmington won $1 million by playing Mega Millions. The ticket that he purchased for the drawing on Nov. 18 matched the first five numbers drawn. Since he added the Megaplier option when he purchased the ticket, the $250,000 prize quadrupled to $1 million.

Although he just claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on Dec. 5, he found out that he won more than two weeks ago. After purchasing groceries, he scanned the ticket using a ticket checker. A message appeared instructing him to claim the prize at the Lottery office. “I hurried up and bought a newspaper and ran home. I opened the door, threw the groceries on the floor (I broke a couple of eggs), closed the door and checked the numbers in the newspaper,” Rapp explained. He was shocked to see that the first five matched — and that he missed winning the jackpot by just one number.       

Kwik Trip, located at 217 Elm St. in Farmington, sold the winning ticket.

DECEMBER 6, 2011 — Brookdale Holiday, located at 5710 Xerxes Ave. N. in Brooklyn Center, sold a winning $39,500 Northstar Cash ticket for the Dec. 3 drawing.

The prize was claimed by Brandon Moore of Milwaukee, Wis. on Dec. 5 at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville.

The winning Northstar Cash numbers drawn on Dec. 3 were 1-2-6-8-12.  

DECEMBER 5, 2011 — On Nov. 11 Brian Spencer had a “spontaneous idea” to buy a lottery ticket. The Clearwater resident said he didn’t have any real strategy before arriving at Coborn’s/Little Dukes, 705 County Road 75 in Clearwater. After viewing the tickets on display he decided to buy a 20X the Money ticket.

Spencer took the ticket home to play. He revealed a $10,000 win and kept scratching. “I saw another $10,000, another $10,000 and a 20X the money symbol [20 x $1,000 = $20,000] and it was $50,000,” Spencer recalled. “I took a couple of deep breaths” before telling his family about his $50,000 win.

He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Dec. 1.

DECEMBER 2, 2011 — A St. Cloud man says his recent $100,000 lottery win will “make a world of a difference” for him and his fiancée.

Patrick Wright won the $100,000 prize by playing the Black Pearls scratch game. He purchased the winning ticket at JM Speedstop – West, located at 3535 W. St. Germain in

St. Cloud. “It didn’t hit me at first,” he recalled. “It took me a good hour to realize that I had won $100,000!”

Wright claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Dec. 1.

DECEMBER 2, 2011 — John Brennan of North Mankato claimed a $50,000 Triple 777 scratch game prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Nov. 30.

Brennan purchased the winning ticket at Cub Foods – Mankato East, located at 1800 Madison Ave. in Mankato.

DECEMBER 1, 2011 — George Winkel of Brooklyn Park won $40,393 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. He claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on Nov. 30.

The first line on Winkel’s five-line quick-pick ticket matched all five numbers drawn on Nov. 25 to win the jackpot.

Holiday, located at 9399 W. Broadway in Brooklyn Park, sold the winning ticket.

DECEMBER 1, 2011 — Richard Aguirre of Little Canada won $25,000 playing Northstar Cash. The numbers on his ticket matched the winning numbers of 1-3-13-26-29 drawn on Nov. 26, 2011 to win the $25,000 jackpot.

The winning ticket was purchased at Now & Later, 2719 Lexington Ave. in Roseville.

NOVEMBER 29, 2011 — Mindy Callaway of Lakeville won $50,000 every year for the rest of her life by playing the Lottery’s Win for Life game book.

Callaway claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Nov. 28.

Grand Amoco Inc., located at 14220 Grand Ave. in Burnsville, sold the winning ticket.

NOVEMBER 21, 2011 — Cody Gorman of Coon Rapids won $26,000 playing Northstar Cash. The numbers on his quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers of 1-8-19-24-27 drawn on Nov. 17, 2011 to win the $26,000 jackpot.

The winning ticket was purchased at SuperAmerica, 6144 W. Broadway in New Hope.

NOVEMBER 18, 2011 — Virginia Hauberg of Blaine won $500,000 by playing the Lottery’s $500,000 VIP Club scratch game.

She claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Nov. 17.

The winning ticket was purchased at Sunshine Oil Co. Inc., located at 9850 Polk St. N.E. in Blaine.

NOVEMBER 17, 2011 — Owatonna resident John Staska II won the $27,000 Northstar Cash jackpot on Nov. 14, 2011 when the seventh set of numbers on his seven-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers of 3-10-18-20-29 drawn that night.

The winning ticket was purchased at Kwik Trip, 1220 S. Oak St. in Owatonna.

NOVEMBER 17, 2011 — SuperAmerica, located at 5804 Neal Ave. in Oak Park Heights, sold a winning Northstar Cash ticket for the drawing on Nov. 15, 2011. Tyler Hatella of New Richmond, Wis. claimed the $25,000 jackpot prize on Nov. 16.

NOVEMBER 16, 2011 — Nov. 11 was a very lucky day for Julie Munson. On her way to work that day, the Montrose resident called her husband to jokingly tell him that she was going to stop at the gas station to buy her lottery ticket because of the special Nov. 11, 2011 date.

Munson bought a Sizzlin’ 7s ticket at Holiday, 7510 Highway 55 in Greenfield. After discovering she won $77,777, she said, “I knew it was a winner, but I reread the instructions so many times. I took a picture of the ticket and sent it to my husband.” Munson checked the winning ticket throughout the day, as well as the photo of the ticket that was stored on her cell phone.

As she waited for her prize check at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Nov. 15, Munson stated, “Reality doesn’t settle in until you get here.”

NOVEMBER 16, 2011 — Mary Frank of Rochester won $25,000 playing Northstar Cash. The second set of numbers on her two-line ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Nov. 11 to win the $25,000 jackpot.

Frank purchased the winning ticket at Kwik Trip, 100 Jefferson Drive E. in Zumbrota.

NOVEMBER 16, 2011 — Robert Jacob of Minneapolis won $100,000 by playing the Lottery’s Hold ’Em Night scratch game. Jacob claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Nov. 15.

University Petroleum, located at 2636 University Ave. N.E. in Minneapolis, sold the winning ticket.

NOVEMBER 15, 2011 — “I’ve never had a birthday quite like this,” James Haugerud of Harmony said on Nov. 14 — his 59^th birthday — as he claimed a $99,271 prize that he won by playing the Lottery’s $3 Progressive Print-N-Play Bingo. “It’s the most expensive present that I’ve ever had and that’s for sure,” he stated.

Haugerud purchased the winning ticket at S & A Petroleum Inc., located at 100 Sheridan W.  in Lanesboro, on Friday, Nov. 11. “I usually buy the $5 tickets, but I figured I’d settle for 60 percent of it [the jackpot],” he jokingly said. It turned out that he didn’t end up settling for anything after uncovering a “blackout” to win the $99,271 jackpot.

 Haugerud admitted that it “wasn’t easy” to wait until Monday to claim his prize. “I was starting to get paranoid. I kept an eye on it [the ticket] all weekend.”  

NOVEMBER 15, 2011 — Vita Marano of St. Louis Park won the $28,000 Northstar Cash jackpot on Nov. 10, 2011. The winning ticket was purchased at Cub Foods, 3620 Texas Ave. S. in St. Louis Park.

NOVEMBER 8, 2011 — Dallas Tildahl of Minneapolis was watching the Lottery’s drawing show on Nov. 6 when he discovered that his Northstar Cash ticket for that night’s drawing matched all five winning numbers (9-15-18-23-28) to win the $57,169 jackpot.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” he recalled. “I usually win $1 or $2 so it didn’t dawn on me right away.” Tildahl said his big win didn’t become real until he went to Cub Foods, 5301 – 36^th Ave. N. in Crystal, where he purchased the ticket to have it verified.

He claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Nov. 7.

OCTOBER 28, 2011 — Melissa Carraher of Minneapolis won $30,643 by playing the Lottery’s Northstar Cash game. She claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on Oct. 28.

Carraher’s quick-pick ticket matched all five numbers drawn on Oct. 27 to win the jackpot.

Stop-N-Go, located at 1847 Johnson St. N.E. in Minneapolis, sold the winning ticket.

OCTOBER 28, 2011 — Oct. 26 was an especially lucky day for Wade Kutzera. The St. Joseph resident had just sold a Lake Superior agate from his collection so he decided to celebrate by purchasing a $20 Wildlife Winning$ game book. “I hadn’t played one for a while and I thought it would be fun,” Kutzera recalled.

After playing the Gobbler Cash ticket in the game book, Kutzera revealed a gem of his own — a $300,000 top prize. “It was unbelievable,” he said. “I was shaking so hard. I had to have someone else drive me to the store to have the ticket checked.”

Kutzera confessed that he was “still in a daze” when he claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Oct. 27. 

He purchased the winning ticket at JM Speedstop – St. Joe, located at 27 W. Birch St. in St. Joseph.

OCTOBER 28, 2011 — Pamela Cich of Mankato won $50,000 by playing the Lottery’s $500,000 VIP Club scratch game. Cich claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on Oct. 27.

Kwik Trip, located at 1075 W. Frontage Road in Owatonna, sold the winning ticket.

OCTOBER 28, 2011 — Robert Hilliker of Edina won $654,407 by playing the Lottery’s Gopher 5 game. The fourth line of Hilliker’s four-line quick-pick ticket matched all five numbers drawn on Oct. 26. Hilliker claimed the prize at the Lottery’s office in Roseville on Oct. 27.

Penn Market, located at 5965 Penn Ave. S. in Minneapolis, sold the winning ticket.

OCTOBER 26, 2011 — Theo and Linda McMillan of Eagan have been playing the same set of Powerball numbers for years using a combination of special family dates.

On Oct. 22 their persistence paid off when the second-line on their Powerball with Power Play ticket matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball number to win $40,000.

“I just opened the paper and I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool!’” Theo said when he discovered their win the following morning. “It was pretty incredible,” added Linda.

The couple claimed the prize on Oct. 24. When asked if they will continue to play the same numbers, Theo replied “Lighting can strike twice!”

Yocum’s Holiday, located at 6976 Cahill Ave. in Inver Grove Heights, sold the winning ticket. The winning Powerball numbers drawn on Oct. 22, 2011 were 3-8-23-30-58 and the Powerball number was 13.

OCTOBER 19, 2011 — Peter Ulrich of Faribault won $50,000 playing the Black Cherry Tripler scratch game. He bought the winning ticket at Kwik Trip, 102 N.E. 5 Ave. in Faribault.

Ulrich claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Oct. 18.

OCTOBER 19, 2011 — Austin Linder of Moorhead carried a Powerball ticket worth $200,000 in his wallet for almost a month before he knew what it was worth. “Once I knew, I started thinking of all the things that had happened. I’d been so careless. I’m just glad I got the ticket here!” he said as he claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Oct. 17.

When Linder finally did check the ticket that he had purchased for the Sept. 17 drawing, he started with the Powerball number, which didn’t match the one on his ticket. Then he saw that the other five numbers were a match. “I was screaming,” he said.

Holiday, located at 1501 – 11^th St. N. in Moorhead, sold the winning ticket.

OCTOBER 19, 2011 — Ronald Anderson bought one ticket for the Sept. 9 Gopher 5 drawing. About two weeks ago the Zimmerman resident checked the ticket after he saw it sitting on his desk next to his computer. “I haven’t had enough coffee yet — I’m not sure I’m seeing this right!” is what Anderson said his reaction was when all of the numbers on his ticket matched the five numbers drawn that night to win the $160,000 jackpot.

Anderson bought the winning ticket at SuperAmerica, 200 Main St. in Elk River. He claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters in Roseville on Oct. 17.

OCTOBER 18, 2011 — Stacey Vaillancourt of Crystal won $29,000 playing Northstar Cash. The second set of numbers on her two-line quick-pick ticket matched the winning numbers drawn on Sept. 11, 2011 to win the $29,000 jackpot.

Vaillancourt purchased the winning ticket at Cub Foods, 19216 Freeport Ave. in Elk River.

OCTOBER 12, 2011 — David Froats of Vadnais Heights claimed a $40,000 Mega Millions prize on Oct. 12.

Froats’ quick-pick ticket matched four of the first five numbers plus the Mega Ball drawn on Oct. 11, which is normally worth $10,000. Since he added the Megaplier option to his ticket at the time of purchase, his $10,000 prize was multiplied by 4 to win $40,000.

North Oaks Holiday, located at 4540 Centerville Road in White Bear Lake, sold the winning ticket.

The winning Mega Millions numbers drawn on Oct. 11, 2011 were 25-34-38-44-56 and the Mega Ball was 27.

OCTOBER 12, 2011 — Minneapolis resident Lucas Law was on his way to pick up dinner for his fiancée and himself when he stopped at Ford Parkway BP, located at 2005 Ford Parkway in St. Paul, and decided to purchase a scratch ticket.

Law took the Black Cherry Tripler scratch ticket to his car and scratched it. “Usually I start by scratching the prizes to see what I could win and then next I scratch to see if I won any of the big prizes. This time I scratched the play areas first and saw that I won something,” Law said. “I figured that I won my $10 back. When I saw it was $200,000, I thought there was something wrong with my eyes. I looked away and then I looked at it again. I had to do that a few times.”

Law then drove to the restaurant and called his fiancée. “I told her that I won $200,000 and she didn’t believe me because I like to joke around.”

OCTOBER 11, 2011 — Marie Scarver of St. Paul won a $33,016 Northstar Cash jackpot from the Oct. 9 drawing. 

Scarver claimed her prize the following day at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville. She purchased the winning ticket at Speedy Dale, 589 Dale St. N. in St. Paul.

The winning numbers drawn on Oct. 9 were 3-19-24-27-30.

OCTOBER 10, 2011 — Patricia Hardin of Brooklyn Park stopped at Holiday, 7525 Brooklyn Blvd. in Brooklyn Park, on Oct. 7 to check her Daily 3 tickets. She won some money and decided to buy a Triple 777 ticket after watching two customers in front of her buy tickets for that game.

Hardin took the ticket home to scratch and revealed a “7” symbol followed by a $200,000 prize. “I told my husband, ‘There are a lot of zeroes — is this right?’ He said, ‘Yes — Let’s go back to the store to check it.’ The clerk checked it and said, ‘Go now [to the Lottery office]! You won some money!’”

Hardin claimed the prize on Oct. 7.

OCTOBER 7, 2011 — Chisago City resident Linda Germain won $10 on a lottery ticket yesterday morning and used the winnings to buy one $5 Sizzlin’ 7s ticket. If that ticket didn’t win, she told the clerk, she’d buy another with the remaining cash.

Germain scratched the ticket at the store, M & L Gas at 11085 Lake Blvd. in Chisago City, and immediately knew that she won a prize. “I checked it on the machine before I scratched the amount,” she recalled. “I got a message that I had to go the Lottery. I told the clerk and she told me to scratch it to see how much I won.

“I started at the left and worked my way to the right,” Germain explained. “I saw the 7s and thought it was at least $7,777; then I found that it was $77,777! I can’t believe it.”

Germain never did buy the second ticket. “After I won big I left and the clerk ran after me with my $5,” she recalled. She immediately drove to Lottery headquarters in Roseville to claim her prize.

OCTOBER 6, 2011 — Jim Huebschen of St. Paul won a record $236,073 Northstar Cash jackpot. One of Huebschen’s quick-pick tickets matched all five winning numbers drawn on Oct. 3 (9-18-20-24-28) to win the jackpot.

“I couldn’t believe that I had the fifth number,” explained Huebschen when he claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters on Oct. 4. “That’s happened before where I’ve matched the first four numbers so I was shocked that I had the fifth number!”

Huebschen purchased the winning ticket at By The Way, located at 121 S. 8^th St. in Minneapolis.

OCTOBER 6, 2011 — Last week Adrienne Mortensen of Wyoming, Minn. purchased a Cosmic Crossword scratch ticket, but waited until Sunday (Oct. 2) to play the ticket. “I kind of forgot about it and then I scratched it during the Vikings game,” she said. When she finally did play the ticket, she realized that it was a $100,000 winner.

“I started shaking and gave the ticket to my husband to double check,” Mortensen said. He looked at the ticket, paused the game, and then checked it again. “I couldn’t stop shaking,” said Mortensen.

Later, they took the ticket back to the grocery store where she had purchased it for additional confirmation that it was a winning ticket.

As she claimed the prize at the Lottery’s headquarters in Roseville on Oct. 4, she said that it was still sinking in and still did not seem real.

Bruce’s Foods, Inc., located at 5358 Wyoming Trail in Wyoming, sold the winning ticket.

OCTOBER 4, 2011 — Kevin Goodiel of Stanley, N.D. was passing through Minnesota on Oct. 2 while on his way to visit family in Wisconsin when he stopped at Holiday, 715 – 13th St. in Pine City for a break.

Goodiel decided to purchase a $5 Cosmic Crossword scratch ticket to help “kill some time in the car.” His impromptu Lottery purchase resulted in a $100,000 win. “We were dazzled,” he recalled. “There was lots of screaming in the vehicle.”

Goodiel hopes to “help my family in a big way” with his winnings. He also plans to buy a new car.