$232M lottery ticket sold to winner in Winner, SD

[annalyzer]

$232M lottery ticket sold to winner in Winner, SD

28 mins ago

WINNER, S.D. – The town of Winner has produced a winner — and a $232 million one at that.

The winning ticket for Wednesday night's $232 million Powerball jackpot was sold in this ranching and farming town of 2,800 people in the south-central part of the state.

"How often does something like this happen — a winner in Winner, S.D.?" Norm Lingle, executive director of the South Dakota Lottery, said at a news conference Thursday.

It's the ninth-largest Powerball jackpot ever and the biggest ever paid out in South Dakota, he said.

The ticket-holder has 180 days to claim the prize, and the lottery said it has not received any calls on the jackpot.

"There's certainly no hurry to come in and claim the prize. This is certainly a life-changing, life-altering experience and they need to seek professional advice," Lingle said.

Only two retailers sell Powerball tickets in town: the Ampride and Lil' Feller convenience stores, said Mike Mueller, South Dakota Lottery spokesman. The seller of the jackpot ticket won't be announced until the winner comes forward, he said. The business that sold the ticket gets $50,000.

Lil' Feller Convenience Store owner Brian Schaeffer and Ampride manager Shawn Ulmer said the winner had not contacted them.

Schaeffer hopes someone from town won the bonanza prize.

"It sure would be nice if someobody here locally or the surrounding area won," he said.

As for the possibility of getting a cut, Schaeffer said: "We don't know that it's us. It could be the guys down the street. It's just nice that it was sold here in town."

Residents were wondering who had won.

"I'm hoping it's someone who's deserving," said Bobbie Voegeli, of Winner. "I'm hoping it's someone local."

Dick O'Bryan, a farmer and real estate agent who lives nearby, said "everybody was trying to figure out who it is" when he went to get coffee Thursday morning.

"It's great to have it come into the town. It (might) just as well be here as somewhere else," he said outside the Tripp County Courthouse. "The only bad part about it is my name isn't on it."

Out of the millions of tickets sold for Wednesday night's drawing, only one matched all six winning numbers: five, six, twelve, 16 and 21. The Powerball was seven.

Powerball is played in 30 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Winner, about 200 miles southwest of Sioux Falls, near the Nebraska line, is known for its great pheasant hunting that draws thousands from around the world every fall.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090528/ap_on_re_us/us_powerball

Can you imagine winning that much money?? I'd love to have just one of those millions.

But you can't win if you don't play!

[texanne]

Can't you just the excitement in that small town today? I hope the winner does something for the whole community.

[SavannahStar]

Can't you just the excitement in that small town today? I hope the winner does something for the whole community.

Wouldn't that be wonderful! :zm10:

[SavannahStar]

Rancher Wins $232 Million in Lottery

By CHET BROKAW, AP

PIERRE, S.D. (June 5) - If this were a movie, nobody would believe it: A rancher struggling to eke out a living in one of the poorest corners of America claimed one of the biggest undivided jackpots in U.S. lottery history Friday — $232 million — after buying the ticket in a town by the name of Winner.

Neal Wanless, 23, said he intends to buy himself more room to roam and repay the kindness other townspeople have shown his family.

Neal Wanless claimed the 9th largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game Friday. Wanless, 23, took the $232.1 million prize in the May 27 drawing. The Mission, S.D., resident, whose family recently had a home repossessed, said he will use some of the money to help the needy. "My family has been helped ... and I intend to repay that help many times over," he said.

"I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune. I will not squander it," he promised, wearing a big black cowboy hat and a huge grin.

Wanless, who is single, lives with his mother and father on the family's 320-acre ranch near Mission, where they raise cattle, sheep and horses. They don't own a phone, a mobile home of theirs was repossessed last year, and records show they have fallen $3,552 behind in their property taxes. Wanless bought $15 worth of tickets to the May 27 30-state Powerball drawing at a convenience store in Winner during a trip to buy livestock feed. He will take home a lump sum of $88.5 million after taxes are deducted.

The Wanless home stands in a grove of trees in Todd County, home to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. It was the nation's seventh-poorest county in 2007, according to the Census Bureau.

Dave Assman, who owns farmland next to the Wanless ranch, said he is happy the family won't have to worry about money any more. "They've been real short on finances for a long time," Assman said. "They are from real meager means, I guess you'd say."
"I hope they enjoy their money," said county assessor Cathy Vrbka, a family friend. "They work hard, backbreaking hard work."

Wanless' father, Arlen Wanless, 54, has made a living in recent years mainly by buying and selling scrap metal, but his fortunes dropped with the price of iron, said Dan Clark, an auctioneer from Winner and a friend of more than two decades.

The younger Wanless told lottery officials that he spent the last week working on the ranch and that he intends to continue that lifestyle, albeit on a larger piece of land. According to lottery officials, he recently told his horse, Eleanor, "It'd be nice if we go for a longer ride than usual on a bigger ranch of our own."

"My family has been helped by the community, and I intend to repay that help many times over," Wanless said. He gave no details.

http://news.aol.com/article/rancher-wins-powerball/516332?icid=main|aim|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.a ol.com%2Farticle%2Francher-wins-powerball%2F516332

[annalyzer]

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090605/capt.6860d7b66fdc43c7ae0f2ac378b2f47d.rags_to_rich es_sdcb104.jpg?x=213&y=259&xc=1&yc=1&wc=336&hc=409&q=85&sig=0SxZVxzv96zHw7s.z0CVPQ--

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rags_to_riches

[SavannahStar]

Thanks Anna, I tried to copy the pic from the site I was on but it wouldn't work for me. I do so appreciate pics in posts!!

Isn't he a cutie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooohooooooooooooooo!

[annalyzer]

Thanks Anna, I tried to copy the pic from the site I was on but it wouldn't work for me. I do so appreciate pics in posts!!

Isn't he a cutie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooohooooooooooooooo!

A very rich cutie now.

[SavannahStar]

A very rich cutie now.

Isn't that the best kind? :girl_haha:

Oh SOME cowgirl up there will be a very, very, very lucky lady. :s1gyahoo:

[AmyE]

And....he is single. :girl_haha:

The cowgirls are gonna be bucking like crazy now.

[SavannahStar]

And....he is single. :girl_haha:

The cowgirls are gonna be bucking like crazy now.


http://bp2.blogger.com/_A0ElUTei6SQ/SCtfwsi3CDI/AAAAAAAAAnE/Mj1-u3z-Qrc/s400/0213_debra_winger_before_full.jpg

[AmyE]

Is this you Savannah?

[annalyzer]

Is this you Savannah?


Not unless Savannah is Debra Winger. :girl_haha:

[AmyE]

Not unless Savannah is Debra Winger. :girl_haha:
:67302: I had to google that one.
Then I realized....duh...wonder woman.

[annalyzer]

:67302: I had to google that one.
Then I realized....duh...wonder woman.

She played Wonder Woman? :waitasec:

I know she played in a movie with John Travolta (where that photo came from) and also starred in An Officer and a Gentleman.

[SavannahStar]

Not unless Savannah is Debra Winger. :girl_haha:

:kissyface4:

No, I'm not. :redface:

Bingo, for Debra Winger in Urban Cowboy. :hifive:

[AmyE]

She played Wonder Woman? :waitasec:

I know she played in a movie with John Travolta (where that photo came from) and also starred in An Officer and a Gentleman.

She was actually introduced as wonder girl in 1976-77.

[AmyE]

:kissyface4:

No, I'm not. :redface:

Bingo, for Debra Winger in Urban Cowboy. :hifive:

I don't remember names of actors or actresses very well. :blondblush113268230

I never seem to worry about their names...just want to watch the movie...lol.

[annalyzer]

I don't remember names of actors or actresses very well. :blondblush113268230


I didn't remember her name either but know her face and googled An Officer and a Gentleman.

She played Wonder Girl? :confused:

[SavannahStar]

I LOVED "Urban Cowboy"..don't think I've ever lost the fantasy of moving to TX and falling in love with a cowboy.

:0t31:

[AmyE]

I didn't remember her name either but know her face and googled An Officer and a Gentleman.

She played Wonder Girl? :confused:

Season 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman_(TV_series)

More info here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Winger

[annalyzer]

Season 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman_(TV_series)

More info here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Winger


wow I didn't know that, but I guess I never saw the show.

this is the only wonder woman i knew of

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/original/Lynda-Carter---Wonder-Woman-Photograph-C10101726.jpg

[AmyE]

I LOVED "Urban Cowboy"..don't think I've ever lost the fantasy of moving to TX and falling in love with a cowboy.

:0t31:

Well, then you might have heard of J.W. & Cody Hart??? J.W. lives right up the road from me, have known him & the whole family all my life.

[AmyE]

wow I didn't know that, but I guess I never saw the show.

My dad watched it when I was younger, thats about all I remember of it. :girl_haha:

[SavannahStar]

Cowboy who won $232 million lottery known as 'good kid'

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/06/09/south.dakota.lottery.winner/art.wanless.yearbook.cnn.jpg
Neal Wanless, winner of the $232 million lottery in South Dakota, shown here in a high school yearbook.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/06/09/south.dakota.lottery.winner/art.ampride.station.cnn.jpg
Wanless picked up his winning lottery ticket at this gas station in South Dakota.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/06/09/south.dakota.lottery.winner/art.brodkorb.lister.cnn.jpg
English teacher Deana Brodkorb and math teacher Diane Lister both recall Wanless as a "good kid."

Story Highlights
Neal Wanless from South Dakota won $232 million in lottery

Former teacher: "He's just such a nice guy and I hope he doesn't get suckered"

Neighbors, teachers call winner "dedicated," "humble, kind and considerate"

By Paul Vercammen
CNN

WINNER, South Dakota (CNN) -- Neal Wanless, a down-on-his luck cowboy before winning a $232 million Powerball jackpot last month, was always known for his big heart even when he barely had a dime to his name.

Now, with his good fortune, neighbors and former teachers worry that he might be easily separated from his new-found money, although he doesn't seem to be around to give any of it away.

"I just hope he doesn't get inundated," his former English teacher Deana Brodkorb told CNN. "He's just such a nice guy and I hope he doesn't get suckered."

Flip through the yearbook at Todd County High School and the portrait emerges of the "good kid" that teachers and classmates remember.

Wanless ran cross-country, played in the band and graduated second in his class -- the 2004 Salutatorian.

Diane Linster, his math teacher, remembers Wanless coming early to school and staying late to pump up his grades.

"Just a very humble, kind and considerate kid," Linster said.

Chris Leneaugh, once an assistant cross-county coach, remembers a dedication to running that propelled Wanless from the middle of the pack to near the front of the team by his senior year.

"Neal never gave up trying," Leneaugh said. "That's what I liked about him, his dedication."

The yearbook also tells the tale of a hat-wearing rancher who was one of a few white students in a school filled with Native Americans -- Lakota Sioux from the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

"Oh man, he was always cowboyed up," said former classmate Mike Prue. "We are all Natives around here and there he was with his Wrangler shirt and jeans. He really stuck out."

Prue and his buddy Steve Plank said Wanless would help them with their homework, despite the differences.

The story of the Wanless family is the story of a family doing muscle-aching work just to scratch out a living. It's the story of a family that needed a break.

Wanless and his parents had recently moved into a camper on their ranch, after losing their home to foreclosure, according to neighbor Erv Figert.

A sign with chipped off green lettering sits in the grass at the entrance to the Wanless property.

"There was a sign out there that said 'the ranch that God built,' " said Joe Prue, father of Mike Prue. "And for a while there you thought, where was God when everything was coming apart. And now, maybe God helped them."

Neighbors say they have not seen anyone come or go from the Wanless Ranch after Neal briefly emerged at a press conference last week to accept a giant-sized check from the May 27 drawing. For now, the gate to the Wanless ranch is held tight by a new lock, linking a rusted-brown chain.

Rumors travel through the green fields of South Dakota faster than the Internet. Talk is cheap with millions of dollars to loosen the tongues. Many believe the Wanless family is going to buy a place up north, maybe by Pierre, but the cowboy with the big heart isn't talking.

"That grin you saw on his face on television (when Wanless accepted the check) is always there," said Linster. "He always looked like he was probably up to something."

Now he has the money to do something about it.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/09/south.dakota.lottery.winner/index.html