‘Jumping for joy’
Fayette County mom wins $1 million in Pa. Lottery
BELLE VERNON – Brittnee Boot says it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that she won a million dollars on a Pennsylvania Lottery scratch-off ticket.
“It’s actually still computing,” the single mother of three from Fayette County said Thursday evening after a ceremonial check presentation at Foster House II, where she bought the $20 – $1,000,000 Winnings ticket. “I still can’t believe it. It’s actually really exciting. I’m that one person that’s like one in a million. Nothing good ever happens to this person. It feels great.”
Eric Grubbs, Pennsylvania Lottery deputy executive director of sale and retail operations, presented Boot with the ceremonial check at the Belle Vernon sports bar.
“I’ve been with the Lottery for 36 years and this is one of the best parts of the job,” he said.
Boot, 31, said she and her kids went to Foster House II on March 19 for dinner. She said she occasionally purchases scratch-off tickets but rarely buys $20 tickets. The most she ever won, she said, was $30 or $40.
“My kids were egging me on to get some scratch-off tickets,” she said. “When I saw that the numbers matched perfectly, I was so excited. My kids were jumping for joy. I actually bought tickets earlier in the day and thought I was done with scratch-offs for a while. … It just so happens there was a guy standing there and my son said, ‘Let’s buy the same ones he did.’ So, we did, and we got the lucky ones. He didn’t.”
Boot intends to buy a new home with a portion of her winnings so her three children, ranging in age 9 to 13, can have their own bedrooms.
“That’s all they really asked for,” Boot said. “My kids don’t ask for a lot of things. My boys have shared a room all of their lives so they can be separated.”
She plans to continue working as a title clerk at C. Harper car dealership.
“I’m going to put a lot (of the money) away,” Boot said. “I like my job a little too much, I guess.”
Thursday was also the birthday of her older sister, Lawra Holmes.
Boot wanted to give her sister half of the money, but she said she wanted just one thing.
“I can finally buy her the mini donkey that she wants,” Boot said. “The only person that’s ever really been there for me is my sister. As long as I can get her her donkey. I want one too now.”
For selling the winning ticket, Foster House II will receive a $5,000 bonus
Theresa Bashada, who co-owns the sports bar with her husband, David, said this is the first time their business sold a winning ticket of that amount.
“We’re so happy that somebody who is deserving of it can change the lives of her children,” Theresa Bashada said.