Bozeman, Montana: Lotto winner Full Day at the Montana Lottery

02/09/08 A Full Day at the Montana Lottery

So far today, two lucky Montana Lottery winners have claimed prizes from recent Lotto drawings.
This morning, Terry Jensen of Belgrade arrived with his winning Montana Cash lotto ticket from the January 30 drawing. Jensen bought
his ticket at Van’s County Market in Bozeman, Montana. His prize was $50,000.

Jensen is a regular player, playing a set of his own numbers in Powerball, and then playing Quick Picks in Montana Cash.
He is a native of the Gallatin Valley, and is an electrician for Current Electric.
His plans include paying bills, maybe taking a vacation, and buying a new house for some property he has in Belgrade.
Then, Sonia Silvan of Big Sandy brought her winning Powerball with Power Play ticket to the Lottery. Sonia bought her ticket, also a Quick Pick,
at Price Rite in Fort Benton, Montana. Her Montana lotto Powerball ticket matched
four white balls plus the Powerball on the January 26 drawing.
She wisely added Power Play to her ticket, which multiplied her $10,000 times 2, for $20,000.
Sonia works for the Chouteau County and Big Sandy Conservation Districts. She heard Monday morning that a ticket bought in Fort Benton,MT., was worth $20,000,
so she took her tickets to a nearby store. After she looked at the winning numbers and her Powerball ticket, she knew she had the one. She went back to work,
called her husband, Wayne, daughters, Amy and Jenny, and sister, Penny Wilson.
No one answered, so she retried Penny. Penny, who lives in Norris, was sleeping in, and answered the phone, What do you want?!
Sonia whispered, I won the Lottery. Penny said that woke her up, so she asked her how much. Sonia was still whispering: $20,000. So Penny asked her why she
was whispering and Sonia explained that she was at work and wanted her family to know first.
Daughter Amy also asked her Mom why she was whispering when they finally talked later on Monday.
Sonia said she’s not sure what she’s doing with her winnings, but sister Penny said she was buying lunch today.