TRURO - Many people were excited to check their lottery ticket yesterday but most were quickly disappointed.
It started early in the morning as news quickly spread that the lone winner of an $11.2-million Lotto 6/49 jackpot had purchased the ticket in Truro.
East End Mini Mart manager Judy Lynds said a lot of people were checking their tickets throughout the day. While some customers were kicking themselves for not stopping to buy their tickets because of Wednesday's heavy rain, others were saying "damn ticket" after checking their numbers.
The winning numbers for the $11,255,272.70 prize are 4, 17, 20, 31, 36, and 40.
"Everyone is wanting a print out," Lynds said, estimating she had printed twice as many as normal.
Atlantic Lottery Corporation spokeswoman Courtney Pringle-Carver said Thursday a winner had not come forward to claim the prize. She said there is no pattern for when people come forward either.
"Some people are waiting for our doors to open when we get here and other people don't come forward for months," she said.
Winners have 365 days to claim their prize. If the prize is not claimed the funds go back into the corporation's prize pool.
"We make an effort to alert people when that year period is almost up," she said, noting it sends news releases out to remind people to check their old tickets.
"We certainly encourage everybody to check their tickets and we always like to meet a winner, so we hope they come forward soon."
The other hot question is where the ticket was purchased, but that will not be revealed until the winner's prize is claimed. The store where the ticket was bought receives a one per cent seller's prize, which in this case would be worth $112,552.72.
According to the corporation's website, the last big winner from our region was Harmony's Diane Leger who won $31,000 on Salsa Bingo in March. February was also a good month for people in central Nova Scotia as Economy friends Tom Beaton and Larry Faulkner shared $100,000 on TAG; Wentworth native Brenda Mae McLean won $100,000 on TAG and Hilden's Dave Darrah won $64,900 on Atlantic 49.
In January Truro's Dora Gloade won $10,000 on Keno.
The largest local winner in recent memory is Stewiacke Valley resident Andrew Evans, who was the winner of $9.7 million in a Super 7 draw in 2001.
jmalloy@trurodaily.com
