Sixteen co-workers win $1 million Powerball prize

By Victoria Kemper

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    MISSOURI (Daily Journal) — A group of 16 coworkers from Pense Brothers Drilling in Fredericktown matched all five numbers in the Nov. 8 Powerball drawing.

The prize of $1 million will be split equally among the 16 winners, each receiving $62,500 before taxes.

The group has been playing every week for about two years and before that would play every time the jackpot was big enough.

“We check tickets in the morning and Tuesday morning the guy that checks them was checking the very first ticket and he had a blank look on his face, got up and started walking toward us and said ‘it shows we won a million dollars,'” one of the winners said. “Of course we thought he was kidding and then he showed us his phone. Then another guy checked it with his phone who also had the app and it showed the same thing.”

Even after several of the winners checked the numbers through the app they still were not entirely convinced. Annie Boren said when she got the call that morning she was told not to get excited yet because it may be a hoax.

It in fact was not a joke or a hoax and the group had matched five of the numbers. The winning numbers for the Nov. 8 drawing were 21, 46, 47, 57, and 62 with a Powerball number of 8.

“I never thought that we would win anything substantial just a few bucks here and there,” one of the winners said. “The money is going into savings account for now and I’ll decided later what to do, maybe go to Disney World.”

Several of the winners are single men and said they are planning to go on a singles cruise together. Others said they will most likely put the money away in savings with the exception of a purchase or two.

Sherry Hinkle said she thought about dropping out of the pool several times and just save her money instead. She said that morning Boren texted her “call me” and she knew something was up but did not expect it to be a lottery win.

“I never thought I had a chance at winning the lotto and I honestly griped so hard each week about giving up my cash for it, the men probably wished I would of left the pool,” Boren said. “But each week I gave my share. I don’t really have any plans for the money other than saving the majority of it.”

Boren said they did not really celebrate because honestly she was just in shock.

“The best part of the whole day was watching some of the men I have worked with for years get so excited and the smiles on their faces,” Boren said. “These are hardworking men and they deserve every dime they have won.”

“I didn’t really expect us to win any large amounts, but I’m glad for everyone,” Hinkle said. “We have some hardworking people in our work family, so it is well deserved.”

The winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s General Store, 507 Lincoln Drive, in Fredericktown.

According to the Missouri Lottery, in Fiscal Year 2021, players in Madison County won more than $2.2 million in Missouri Lottery prizes, retailers received more than $228,000 in commissions and bonuses, and more than $1 million in lottery proceeds went to education programs in the county.

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