Benefiting Idaho public schools and buildings

 

IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CONTACT: David Workman

Tuesday, March 27, 2007                                                                                          (208) 334-2600

 

Coeur d’Alene Man Finds Pot of Gold, Wins $100,000 on Lottery Ticket

 

Boise – Fran Giovanelli found the end of the rainbow on March 20, 2007 at about 12:15 a.m. at Kathleen’s Chevron on Government Way in Coeur d’Alene.  The 18-year veteran metal worker was coming off a late shift when he stopped in his favorite convenient store to buy a $10 “10 Times the Luck” Idaho Lottery scratch ticket that turned out to be a $100,000 winner.

 

“Holy cow, I hit the big one!” exclaimed Giovanelli who plays three or four scratch tickets a day.

 

After completing his late shift, the life-long Coeur d’Alene resident drove past Kathleen’s Chevron to another store in search of a “10 Times the Luck” scratch ticket with artwork featuring a leprechaun holding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  When he got there, the store had sold out of them. He turned around and headed back to Kathleen’s.

 

“I bought the ticket and took it out to my truck to scratch it. You never scratch a ticket in the store. It’s bad luck,” described Giovanelli of his superstitions playing a scratch game based on myth and legend.

 

As the legend holds, if someone catches a leprechaun he will show you his pot of gold. “After I scratched off the first play area, I saw the “one” followed by all those zeroes!” he said in disbelief. “I looked at it over and over again. I couldn’t believe it.”

 

Giovanelli took the ticket back into the store and had the night clerk look at it. “She hugged me and lifted me clean off the ground,” he exclaimed.

 

The grandfather of four said he plans to pay for some remodeling on his house, fulfill a life-long dream of building a shop, and set aside a nest-egg with his winnings. He claimed $67,200 after state and federal taxes on Monday, March 26, 2007 at Lottery Headquarters in Boise.

 

Kathleen’s Chevron will receive their own pot of gold, a $10,000 bonus from the Idaho Lottery for their part in selling the ticket.

 

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