"I won the lottery, which I think everybody has done at one time or another"

Even Sault Ste. Marie's newest millionaire gets sticker shock when booking with Air Canada.

Virginia Bouchard was buying tickets Monday to attend Ontario Lottery and Gaming's prize centre for herself, her husband, Brian, their three children and a son-in-law.

"When they told me it was $8,000 and something for us to fly for the day, my husband asked what kind of people spend that kind of money. And I said, 'I guess millionaires do,'" said a still giddy Bouchard, 51, from Toronto Wednesday.

As much of Sault Ste. Marie has known, the lifelong Sault Ste. Marie resident shared in Friday night's $25 million Lotto Max jackpot. She found out Sunday night after a busy weekend - and a dream the night before that "I won the lottery, which I think everybody has done at one time or another."

Everyone might have dreamt they won the jackpot; not everybody lives out the dream of calling your boss Monday morning to quit.

"I retired at 8:01 Monday morning," said the former supervisor at Canadian Tire auto department. He took it well, she says.

While she has "definitely" had meetings with an investment adviser, she's not exactly sure what to do with the money. She and Brian recently returned from a holiday in Las Vegas and a trip to Florida was planned for next March.

Birthdays for the kids, aged 24 to 31, are coming up, as is Christmas. As for Bouchard, "I got my present already."

A family of three from Burlington, Ont., stepped forward late Monday afternoon to claim their $12.5-million portion of the jackpot.

The Sault has declared several lottery millionaires through the years, including at least a half-dozen minimum $2-million winners. In 1991 registered nurse Irene Kangas won the $13.9 million jackpot, at that time Canada's biggest single-ticket lottery prize.

In 1987, Bob Campbell claimed the top prize of $6.4 million and last October Joyce Sandvik, 78, won the $9.7 million jackpot.

ref. Sun Media

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