A Drumheller man is $250,000 richer after scratching the right boxes.
Allan Kendrick struck it rich playing a $10 Crossword Supreme Scratch and Win Ticket. This was the top prize.
He couldn’t believe he won.
“I am still walking around looking behind me, to see if the horseshoe falls out,” he laughs.
He tells the Mail, initially he thought he had messed up scratching it. When he came home they had company, so he ignored it until the next day to check it.
“I checked it about five times,” he said.
When his wife woke he asked her to check it and her reaction was the same as Al’s.
He has no immediate plans for his winning, aside from buying a new truck he has already picked out. The couple are celebrating their 50th anniversary and already have a cruise planned.
“Maybe I‘ll head down south for a little round of golf or something,” he said.
He purchased the ticket at the Nacmine General Sore. He is a long-time lottery player but doesn't follow any superstitions and buys his tickets at random places.
“I was just driving by Nacmine when I was coming home from Calgary and stopped in and got the ticket. A very lucky ticket,” he said.
He has been playing the lottery for decades, and figures he’ll continue to play the odd ticket.
The former municipal employee remembers, “We were playing 6/49 at the water plant and we had to get the tickets out of Calgary. That’s how long ago it was. We didn't have a machine in Drumheller,” he said. “I have been playing for over 40 years, I guess this is good payback for me.”
“People are saying it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. I don’t think I am that nice.”