news Lucky 13 win big in lotto

[rwilli1]

Lucky 13 win big in lotto



Fri May 22, 7:03 AM





It's lucky No. 13 for a group of women hauling home a $49.9-million lotto windfall.


Co-workers at the ATB Financial headquarters in Edmonton said yesterday 13 payroll and human resources workers -- who work on the 13th floor -- are splitting Wednesday's Lotto 6/49 jackpot, the third largest in history.

"Everybody is buzzing everywhere," said Penny Stone.

Plumber Lawrence Dunseath was working on the building yesterday and overheard some of the commotion. "They seem to be very excited," he said. "You'd be excited too if you won, what was it, $49 million?

"Everyone was very happy for them."

Stone said the winners are junior workers, who work weekends to process payroll.

"That's the kind of people they are," she said.

"If it couldn't be us, we're glad it's them ... They're the best."

She said she knows some of the people working in the winning department from outdoor smoke breaks.

"We talk about lotto dreams all the time," she said.

Stone said she suspects a few might give up their jobs.

"If you had $4 million, you'd do whatever you damn well want," she said, laughing.

The winners are set to face the media today at 2 p.m., according to the Western Canada Lottery Corporation.

One of the winners is Sara Gabriel.

"We are letting my sister share her own story at the press conference. We are all very happy for her and the others who won," Gabriel's sister Hayley Anna Erica told Sun Media yesterday.

"Sorry, all I can say is that I'm happy for her. Other than that, no comment."

Someone showed up at the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission's office in St. Albert to claim the prize mid-day yesterday, said spokesman Lynn Hutchings-Mah.

"We're currently in the payment process," she said.

The winners must verify their ticket and their identification before they can touch their money, she said.

The win means the Edmonton region owns two of the three largest lotto wins in Canadian history, said Andrea Marantz, spokesman for WCLC.

In October 2005, a group of 17 oil and gas workers at a plant southeast of Edmonton shared a $54.3-million windfall, the largest.

RICHARD.LIEBRECHT@SUNMEDIA.CA