York County Retailer Sells Winning Powerball Ticket in Pennsylvania

Business Wire, Jan 1, 2004

News Editors

MIDDLETOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 1, 2004

PA, SC players split 5th largest Powerball(R) jackpot ever

Pennsylvania Lottery officials today announced that one of the two winning tickets in the $221.5 million New Year's Eve Powerball(R) drawing was sold at a retailer in York County.

A Rutter's Farm Store located at 725 Arsenal Rd. (Rt. 30 at Sherman St.) in York, York County, sold the winning December 31, Powerball(R) jackpot ticket. Mary Roan manages the store, which is part of a family-owned chain.

Two winning tickets - one sold in Pennsylvania, the other in South Carolina - matched all five white balls, 5-7-18-28-35, and the red Powerball(R), 1, in Wednesday night's drawing. The jackpot prize of $221,500,000 will be split evenly between the two winners, with each receiving $110,750,000. The $110,750,000 Powerball(R) jackpot is the third largest jackpot prize in the history of the Pennsylvania Lottery.

At this time, no one has claimed the winning ticket sold in Pennsylvania. The Lottery encourages the holder of the winning Powerball(R) ticket to sign the back of the ticket, contact a financial advisor and contact the Lottery at 717-986-4720. The prize must be claimed at Lottery headquarters in Middletown, Dauphin County. A claim for the prize may be filed Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Lottery offices are closed today, New Year's Day, and will reopen at 8 a.m. on Friday, January 2.

"This has turned out to be a very happy New Year's Day for the Lottery players in Pennsylvania. Not only was a winning jackpot ticket sold for last night's drawing, but four match-five tickets were sold in Pennsylvania as well, each for a $100,000 prize," said Ed Mahlman, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Lottery. "Sales for this 16-draw run were phenomenal, and that means more funding for programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians. We are grateful to our players for their support and to our Lottery retailers for their efforts."

The Arsenal Road Rutter's will receive a $400,000 bonus for selling the winning jackpot ticket.

"This is quite a way to ring in the New Year," said Rutter's President Scott Hartman. "We're excited to have sold the jackpot-winning ticket in one of our stores."

There are 51 Rutter's Farm Stores in Pennsylvania, 43 of which are in York County.

Each winner has 60 days from the date he or she claims the prize to decide whether to receive annuity payments over a period of 30 years, or to take a one-time cash payment of $60,149,751.48.

$61,171,165 worth of Powerball and PowerPlay tickets were sold in Pennsylvania for the 16-draw run leading to this jackpot. Since about 37 cents from every sales dollar is dedicated to funding programs for older Pennsylvanians, this jackpot contributed about $22.6 million for the Commonwealth's older residents.

In Pennsylvania, there were 403,639 winning plays sold for the December 31 Powerball(R) drawing, of which 47,559 selected the PowerPlay(R) option. Each winning PowerPlay(R) ticket for Wednesday's drawing receives three times the standard cash prize for its respective category. In Pennsylvania, Powerball(R) players who "powered up" with PowerPlay(R) for the December 31, 2003, drawing will receive total additional winnings of $485,006.

The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state Lottery that designates all its proceeds to programs that benefit older residents. Since its inception more than 31 years ago, the Lottery has contributed more than $13.8 billion to programs that include property tax and rent rebates; free and reduced-fare transit; the low-cost prescription drug programs PACE and PACENET; and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including 650 full- and part-time senior centers throughout Pennsylvania. Players must be 18 or older.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Lottery, visit the Lottery's Web site, www.palottery.com.