"WESTERN 649 has been very good to me," Joyce Babiuk says. A few years ago, the Yorkton resident won $500 for matching five of six main numbers. And now, Babiuk has topped that; she matched all six main numbers to win $1 million.
Babiuk plays both LOTTO 6/49 and WESTERN 649 every Wednesday and Saturday, and she bought her usual Quick Pick tickets for the July 14 draws from Super C & Gas Bar, located at 103 Gladstone Avenue North in Yorkton. On Sunday the 15th, she stopped at a gas station on her way home from work and jotted down the winning numbers. She gave the numbers and ticket to her partner to check when she got home.
"He said, 'You got all six numbers; I think you won a million bucks.' I said, 'Yeah, right,'" Babiuk remembers. "Who believes anyone when they tell you you've won $1 Million?"
When she understood that nobody was playing a joke on her, Babiuk called her son and together, they took the ticket to a nearby gas station.
"We walked in with the ticket, bought a pop, and very quietly checked it at the ticket checker," she says. "When we saw it said $1 Million, we quietly left. When we got back to the car, my son gave me a hug and said, "Congratulations!'"
Describing what it's like to win a million dollars, Babiuk is at a loss for words.
"I'm a good talker, but I think I'm speechless. Wow!"
Babiuk plans to take some time to let the reality of her windfall sink in before making plans, but she's got some ideas already. "Years ago, I told the girls at work that the next car I buy is going to be red," she says. As well as a new vehicle, she plans to buy some new furniture and use some of her winnings to help her children.
"We'll be careful with it, but after 40 years of working hard, I don't have to look too closely at a price anymore."
