BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Karen Stoneberg capped off a busy week of large winners at the Idaho Lottery Friday morning when she claimed a $300,000 winning ticket on the Scratch GameTM First Class Fortune. Stoneberg stopped at Fast Eddy's on Ten Mile in Meridian on her way to work and purchased the ticket.

"I scratched the ticket in the parking lot and when I saw it was $300,000, I ran back inside and had them check to make sure I wasn't crazy!" described Stoneberg. "I┬┤ve been very lucky with this game. I've won $100 and $200 prizes regularly, but I never expected to actually win the top prize of $300,000!"

Within an hour, Stoneberg had found her way to Lottery offices in Boise to claim her prize. She plans to use her winnings to buy her first home, a truck, and help her daughter with some bills. She becomes the 76th player in Idaho Lottery history to win at least $300,000. For their part in selling the winning ticket, Fast Eddy's receives a bonus of $20,000.

Stoneberg was the third six-figure winner this week from tickets that were all sold in Meridian. On Tuesday, Kenneth Jones of Nampa stopped at the Jacksons on Eagle and I-84 in Meridian with his daughter for lunch.

"We got a car wash then stopped in for a cheeseburger, a fish and fry, and a couple of Scratch tickets," described Jones. "We left with $200,000!"

Jones' ticket was the second Winter Wonders Scratch ticket in the first pack distributed by that Jacksons location. Tickets had gone on sale earlier that morning. The first ticket was bought by his daughter. She and her dad split the top winning prize.

"I've played scratch tickets all over the country, in every state, but I like Idaho's the best!" exclaimed Jones when he claimed his winning ticket.

For their part in selling the winning ticket, Jacksons received a bonus from the Idaho Lottery of $20,000.

On Monday, Sandy Pickrel of Nampa won $100,000 on the new draw game Idaho Bingo. She bought her ticket at Winco Foods, also in Meridian.

"This has been a very lucky week for winners in Meridian," said David Workman, Idaho Lottery Public Information Specialist. "On Monday we had a $100,000 winner, on Tuesday we had a $200,000 winner and on Friday we had a $300,000 winner. I can't recall a time when we've had this many six-figure winners in a single week, let alone from the same town."

# # #