Ontario Lotto Winners Emerge To Split Big Bounty

But seven of the eight Ontario residents who came forth at the Ontario Lottery Corporation Headquarters on Bloor St. East Monday were perfect for the scenario – they all work at a Dollarama store, a place where people try to save money.

Now the winners no longer have to worry about saving for anything. Most walked away with $1.35 million for their share of the $43 million prize.

The exception? A Kitchener woman named Joanne Mlotscheck, who went it alone and came home with a cheque for $10.8 million. “I have slept since, “she admits. “Right now we just need to chill.”

And cold, hard cash should help that happen.

She’s still in shock that she won and will never forget how she discovered the news that will forever change her life. It came when she asked a cashier to check her numbers in a grocery store.

“She scanned the ticket,” Joanne recalls. “The cashier jumped back because it made a different noise. She thought she broke the machine. And then it came up Big Winner. But then it locked her out!”

Joanne’s first phone call was to her employer, telling her she wouldn’t be coming back to work this week. Or ever. 

But that wasn’t the case for the Dollarama partners. And for them, it’s more than just a fairy tale come true.

The Sherbourne and Queen St. store has only been open for six weeks and the winners haven’t known each other that long. 

It was the first time they’d ever chipped in on a ticket together, an idea that came from the store manager.

His name is Jerry Pastuch, and he shared in the big win, too.

“I was at a wedding on Saturday night, like when I got home, just about quarter after one or so there was two or three messages on my machine to phone. “Jerry, it’s important.” Then when I phoned her she said ‘we won the lottery’ and I said no! We started screaming and yelling and hooting and hollering.”

All insist they’re going to continue working there “for now”, calling it a ‘lucky store’.

But they may have a new job waiting for them if they want it.

They say they’re being inundated by requests from friends to purchase their next lottery ticket, hoping that the luck they had this time will spread to others.

And yes, despite the bounty, they all intend to keep buying tickets for themselves, too.

The third winning ticket was sold in southwestern Ontario and the fourth in Quebec.

• Remember you can check the lottery numbers anytime on CityNews.ca. Just click here for our Lottery section. And keep it handy for Friday’s Super 7 draw. The jackpot in that one is $15 million.