DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709210077

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY D.W. PAGE, ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   58 lines

SUPERSTITION MAKES HALIFAX COUPLE RICH CYNTHIA BROWN WON $26.2 MILLION IN THE LOTTO BECAUSE HER HAND ITCHED.

Sam and Cynthia Brown said a bit of folk wisdom made them millionaires.

The rural Halifax County couple collected their first installment of a $26.2 million Lotto jackpot Saturday, making them the largest individual winners in Virginia Lottery history.

Cynthia Brown had always heard that when your hand itches, you're about to get money.

``I have a system (of buying a ticket) when your hand itches,'' the seamstress said.

Her hand itched on the evening of Aug. 17, and she stopped at Farmer's Food in Halifax and let the lottery computer pick her numbers: 11-19-22-36-37-40.

While at work the next day, she heard on the radio that a ticket sold in Halifax had won the jackpot. But her ticket was in her car, and she waited until the end of her shift before checking the numbers.

``My heart skipped a beat. I just kept looking at the ticket,'' she said. ``I just sat there in a daze.''

Once home, she called her husband at work, telling him to come home. When asked why, she said, ``How would you feel if I won $26 million?''

Sam Brown, a welder, waited until his shift was over before returning home.

The couple then remained quiet, looking for professional advice to manage their windfall, the fifth-largest in Virginia Lottery history.

Meanwhile, rumors ran through the county as to who had won.

``I was having fun'' with all the rumors, Brown said.

The couple would not disclose their plans for the millions. Asked if they planned to move from Halifax County, Brown would only say, ``Nothing is concrete right now.''

When asked if the couple might move to the Bahamas, Brown smiled and added, ``Might be Hawaii or Paris.''

The couple declined to say where in the county they lived, their ages, if they had children, or where they worked.

The previous largest single-ticket, individual claimant was a Hampton couple who won $24.8 million in November 1995, Virginia Lottery officials said.

The largest-ever jackpot was $28.4 million in November 1992, which was split among five winning tickets.

The Browns were given a check Saturday for $892,523, reflecting a 32 percent tax bite. They will receive 19 annual payments of $890,160.

Though the Browns were vague about their plans, Cynthia Brown expressed one wish.

``I'm hoping no one will harm us because of this,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sam and Cynthia Brown of Halifax are the largest individual winners

in Virginia Lottery history. After she realized that she had bought

the winning ticket, Cynthia said, ``My heart skipped a beat. I just

kept looking at the ticket. I just sat there in a daze.'' KEYWORDS: LOTTERIES VIRGINIA WINNERS

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