“You never ever buy a ticket and think you are going to win,” said Melynda Refkin, who scratched off a $1 million winner in the $300,000,000 Cash Spectacular instant ticket game from the Illinois Lottery.
Refkin, 56, of Schererville, purchased her ticket at United Liquors, 21579 Lincoln Highway, Lynwood, Ill., on Memorial Day. She didn’t know immediately her ticket was a winner.
“I saved the ticket until the end of the day. Then I checked it and it was a million-dollar winner,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I had to stare at it for a few seconds to realize it.”
Once she had absorbed the reality, she went to show it to her husband, chiropractor Joseph Refkin, 68.
“He was on the phone. He could tell I had a funny look on my face and he hurried to finish his conversation, because he thought something was wrong,” she said and laughed, “Something was very right.”
Refkin said she opted to receive her lottery winnings in 20 annual payments of $50,000. The payments are subject to taxes.
Her first order of business was to take care of some financial obligations, but mainly “I just want the peace of mind of financial security.”
United Liquors also benefits from Refkin’s good luck. The retailer received a bonus of $10,000, equal to 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling the winning ticket, according to a press release from the Illinois Lottery.
In general, May and June were lucky for lottery players in Lake and Porter counties.
Dena Wright and Dan Gresham, of Chesterton, won $18.7 million in the Hoosier Lotto in June. They will take their winnings in 30 annual installments of $333,000. The Red Carpet Smoke Shop where they bought their ticket will get $100,000.
Erik Knorr, of Crown Point, won $2.5 million in the Hoosier Lottery in July. Strack & Van Til in Crown Point got a $25,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
For Ajahn Batty, 22, of Merrillville, May 31 was a lucky day when he bought the Illinois Lottery’s $1 Lucky Day Lotto Quick Pick and matched all five numbers in the evening drawing. Batty’s ticket paid him $250,000 and provided a $2,500 bonus to the Lan-Oak Liquors in Lansing, Ill.
Northwest Indiana claims the record for the biggest Hoosier Lotto winner, retired East Chicago steel worker Peter Gilbert, who won $54.5 million in the Hoosier Lotto jackpot in 2007.
“You only hope you are going to win. You always hope. You never expect it,” Refkin said.
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Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.