SALEM, Va. – One Salem man got lucky after purchasing a Mega Millions lottery ticket for the Nov. 1 drawing.
Garland Hare bought his ticket and left for an overseas trip the next day. Once arriving at his destination, he realized he had a ticket that matched the first five winning numbers to win $1 million.
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“It was very unexpected!” Hare later told Lottery officials.
The winning numbers were 5-9-15-16-17 and the Mega Ball number was 25. Hare’s ticket matched all but the Mega Ball number. He made his ticket number selection using a combination of family birthdays and anniversaries.
The ticket was purchased at Salem Mini Mart, located at 2319 West Main Street in Salem. The store will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Hare’s ticket was one of seven nationwide that matched five numbers to win $1 million. The Virginia Lottery says the odds of matching the first five numbers in Mega Millions are 1 in 12,607, 306.
Hare, who works in computer programming, says he plans on paying bills and traveling with his winnings.
The Virginia Lottery’s profits go to K-12 education in Virginia. In Salem, more than $2.6 million in Lottery funds were provided to K-12 education in the last fiscal year.