BOISE, Idaho – Most people get very excited when they win $1 million on Powerball. One Boise couple though, nearly literally, went bananas when they won a million dollars.
Eugene and Hilly Penton of Boise only check their Powerball tickets once a month. In the meantime they keep all of their Powerball tickets on the kitchen counter underneath a fresh bunch of bananas. Even with the news that there was a million dollar winning ticket sold in Boise for the September 14, 2013 draw, the Penton’s kept to their regular routine. Last Friday night, they finally took their tickets in to check them at the Jacksons on Bogus Basin Road where the tickets were purchased.
“We didn’t know we had a big winner until we got our tickets checked at the store,” explained Eugene. “The clerk looked up the winning numbers from that draw and told us we’d won a million dollars. I’m a ‘see-it-to-believe-it’ guy. I didn’t believe him. So I looked up the numbers myself. Then I told Hilly. She didn’t believe me until she looked up the numbers for herself. Now that we have the check, I believe it.”
The couple who have been married 47 years, plan to pay bills, invest for their retirement, and take their family on a big vacation, perhaps to Hawai’i.
“There really isn’t anything that matters more than family,” added Hilly. “And now we’ll get to spend more time with them.”
For their part in selling the winning ticket, Jacksons receives a $20,000 bonus from the Idaho Lottery. The Penton’s are the 23rd million-dollar or higher winners playing Powerball in Idaho since 1989.
