Press Releases
Press Release
Monday, January 9, 2017
Happy Birthday: Toccoa man wins $500K surprise playing Georgia Lottery game
ATLANTA – Thomas Herron of Toccoa just got a pretty hefty gift for his 65th birthday. Herron recently won a prize of $500,000 playing the $500,000 Bonus instant ticket game.
Royal Food Store, 2668 Mize Road, Toccoa, sold the winning ticket.
Herron said that he had stopped to refuel on gas when he decided to purchase the ticket.
“I had a lucky feeling,” he said. “My birthday was the next day, so I bought tickets.”
After realizing that he had won, the lucky winner said he rushed home to share his excitement.
“I nearly fainted,” he said. “I told my wife to sit down because I had some news.”
The 65-year-old store manager said that he plans to use his winnings to save for retirement.
Herron claimed his prize at the Georgia Lottery Duluth District Office Wednesday.
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $17.8 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.7 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.4 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.
For more information on the Georgia Lottery Corp., please visit:
Play Responsibly – Be An Informed Player – It’s All about Fun!