Benefiting Idaho public schools and buildings

 

IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CONTACT: David Workman

October 17, 2006                                                                                                      (208) 334-2600

 

Blanchard Hay Farmer claims $200,000 Powerball Prize

 

Boise – Nearly two weeks after learning he had a winning $200,000 Powerball ticket, Bill Buddrius of Blanchard, Idaho visited Lottery headquarters in Boise today and claimed his prize.

 

The winning ticket was sold at the E-Z Stop Convenience Store and Gifts on Highway 41 in Blanchard for the October 4, 2006, $15 million Powerball draw.  The winning numbers were 03, 07, 27, 39, 40 and the Powerball number was 08. A $200,000 winning ticket matches every number but the Powerball. 

 

Buddrius won on numbers he picked himself.  A regular player, he plays the same numbers every Wednesday and Saturday along with a quick pick each time.  He said there was nothing significant to the numbers he chose. “I just thought they’d be lucky someday,” confessed the shy, life-long resident of Blanchard.

 

His intuition turned into a nice pay-day. Buddrius, 50, will take home a check for $134,400 after state and federal taxes are withheld.  He says he’ll pay off a few bills, help his parents with their expenses, and maybe think about getting a new pick-up truck since his quit working yesterday.

 

Despite local newspaper reports of a big winning ticket being sold in Blanchard, several days passed with no winner coming forward. E-Z Stop store owner Cindy Cunningham launched her own campaign to find the winner by asking every customer to check their Powerball tickets. She even posted flyers throughout the store and circulated them at the nearby Stoneridge Golf Resort.  With the lowest gas prices in the region, E-Z Stop has been a bustling center of activity and the winner could have been anyone from a resort guest to someone driving the extra twelve miles from Newport, Washington to save on gas prices.

 

Buddrius finally stopped in with the winning ticket after more than a week to check his numbers. “I read the numbers in the paper, but thought with my luck it would be a misprint,” said Buddrius, a soft-spoken hay farmer. “I stopped by to see Cindy several times and check the ticket, but they were awfully busy. Every pump had a car, so, I waited a few days until things quieted down.”

 

E-Z Stop will receive a check for $20,000 from the Idaho Lottery for their part in selling the winning ticket.  This is the second high-tier prize for the store in last four months.  Alton Chrisco of Blanchard won $10,000 on a Powerball ticket purchased at the same E-Z Stop last May.  Cunningham said she split half the $1,000 bonus with her employees last spring and plans to split the $20,000 the same way this time.

 

Blanchard, a town of 120 people along Highway 41 near the Idaho-Washington border, is quickly gaining a reputation for being a winner. “Not only do we have the best gas prices in the region,” said Cunningham proudly, “But we’re the best place to buy Powerball tickets, too.”

 

Photo of the winner is available.

 

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