Scott and Cathy Bennett of Hillsborough, N.H., Win $2,150,000 Tri-State Megabucks Plus Jackpot in Ticket Twist of Fate; Choose Cash Option of $1.3 Million
Win Jackpot After Clerk Mistakenly Prints Wrong Game Ticket at Circle K Store in Hillsborough
CONCORD, N.H. – What began as a ticket sold by mistake turned out to be a Tri-State Megabucks Plus jackpot win for Scott and Cathy Bennett of Hillsborough, N.H. An occasional lottery player, Scott stopped at the Circle K on Main Street in Hillsborough on Wednesday, December 19th and asked for one Lucky for Life ticket and one Tri-State Megabucks Plus ticket. The clerk mistakenly sold him two Megabucks tickets.
Unbothered by the error, Scott put the tickets in his wallet and left the store. Wednesday morning, Scott woke to a note on the kitchen table from their 20-year-old son, Trav, “Check your lottery tickets Dad, a winning ticket was sold in Hillsborough!” After checking their numbers and discovering their good fortune, they happily wrote a note back to their son, “Trav: Thanks a million!”
The Bennetts met with New Hampshire Lottery officials yesterday to claim their winnings, choosing the cash option of the $2,150,000 Tri-State Megabucks Plus Jackpot, meaning their take is $1.3 million before taxes. Today they returned to the store where they purchased their winning ticket to tell their story.
. “As fate would have it, that ticket was the winner!,” said Scott Bennett, 48, who works in property management in Hillsborough. Scott and Cathy, who is 47 and shares the same birthday as Scott, have been married for 27 years and have three children ages 22, 20 and 16. Cathy is a para-educator at the Hillsborough- Deering Elementary School, the same school Cathy and Scott attended as kids. He grew up in Windsor; she in Hillsborough. They both went to work this morning, came to the store to announce their winnings, and plan to head back to work.
“We will continue to work, we really like our jobs! The money will go toward helping our kids with their student loans and some investments – and maybe Santa will put a few extra gifts under the Christmas tree this year!,” said Scott. Added Cathy, “We would like to take a nice long weekend vacation with the kids up north!”
Circle K received $21,500 for selling the winning ticket. The winning numbers were 12 – 15 – 18 – 33 – 35 and the Mega Ball: 2. This was the 162nd Tri-State Megabucks jackpot winning ticket sold in New Hampshire since the game began in 1985.
“We are so thrilled to have Scott and Cathy become our newest New Hampshire Lottery jackpot winners!,” said Charlie McIntyre, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Lottery. “They are a great family who will certainly enjoy the prize winnings. It will make for a very happy holiday season for them!”