THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 3, 1994 TAG: 9412030245
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Carolyn Thomas has always wanted to play Santa Claus. And now that she is the newest Virginia Lottery multimillionaire, she'll get her wish.
The part-time social worker from Hopewell won with all six numbers in Wednesday's Lotto drawing and captured a jackpot of more than $8.7 million.
``I didn't hear until this morning that the winner was from Hopewell,'' Thomas, a widow, said during a news conference Friday. ``I couldn't believe it! I'm still pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming.''
She collected the first installment of payments she will receive for each of the next 20 years and appeared calm as she spoke to reporters. Her only immediate plans, she said, were to put her money in the bank and ``play Santa Claus for some people I know.''
``I'm going to take things slowly,'' she said. ``I'm not really thinking rationally right now.''
Friday's first payment totaled $433,038, or $294,265 after taxes. For the next 19 years, she can expect annual payments $437,000, or $297,160 after taxes.
Thomas has played the lottery regularly for years.
``I've never missed a Wednesday or Saturday,'' she said. ``I'm scared if I don't play. You know, I'm still going to keep playing now.''
She let the computer do the selection for her this week, and it gave her back the numbers one, nine, 10, 12, 17 and 43 - digits that would make her rich.
It's not the first time she has won at games of chance. She once picked up $250 in the Lottery's Pick 3 Game. And she won $13,000 gambling in Atlantic City.
The $8.7 million jackpot was the largest in Virginia since Oct. 1, when the total hit $18 million, Lottery spokeswoman Paula Otto said. The largest jackpot in state history was $28.6 million, split among five winners in November 1992, she said.
Thomas, a mother of two, has a son who attends Richard Bland College in Petersburg. Her other child lives with her at home. But that's all she would say of her family.
``I don't want to say how old my children are because it will make me sound so old,'' she laughed.
She said she called her son at college to tell him of her new wealth Friday morning.
``He was really, really shocked,'' Thomas said. ``But he said, `Now it will be okay for me to go back to school next year.' We've been worried about how to pay the tuition.''
Now she has money for others, including a 6-year-old girl she has come to know through her job with a social agency.
``I promised her I'd take her to the movies . . . this afternoon,'' Thomas said.
``That's why I wanted to come get the check earlier in the day.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
``I couldn't believe it! I'm still pinching myself to see if I'm
dreaming,'' Carolyn Thomas said after learning she had won $8.7
million in the Virginia lottery's Lotto drawing Wednesday.
KEYWORDS: LOTTO by CNB