May 24, 2011 -- With the extra change she received from a CT Lottery retailer, Magdalena “Margie” Suarez of Meriden purchased a $2 “
Lucky-4-Life” draw game ticket for May 23, 2011 and played her favorite “birthday” numbers. “The numbers are from my husband’s family—three brothers, a sister, and mother,” Margie said. “Whenever I play, the numbers I choose always have a meaning.”
The next morning, Margie’s husband, Minzell, woke her up early with some exciting news. “It was 5:40, and I knew I still had 20 more minutes to sleep,” said Margie laughing, “I didn’t want to get up to see what he was talking about.” Fortunately, Minzell was persistent. When he led Margie to the computer where the CT Lottery’s website was displayed, she saw she had matched four of the winning Lucky-4-Life numbers drawn. “He told me that I matched three numbers to surprise me. When I saw it was four numbers, I said, ‘That’s $10,000!’”
The winning Lucky-4-Life numbers drawn on May 23 were 12 – 16 – 23 and 24. While Margie matched those four numbers, she did not match the Lucky Ball number, which was 30.
Margie isn’t the only Meriden resident who’s been lucky playing Lucky-4-Life. Since the game began on March 29, 2009, three other town people have won $10,000 playing Lucky-4-Life, including George Parks, Willie Bacote, Jr., and Christina Durso. But, Meriden native Susan Dolehanty, who currently resides in Durant, Michigan, has been the luckiest of all. On August 20, 2009, Susan matched all four winning numbers drawn and the Lucky Ball number, winning the game’s top prize worth $2,000 a week for life.
Margie and her husband arrived at Lottery Headquarters in Rocky Hill today to claim a check for $6,854 (prize value after taxes). “We’ll pay some bills, but we’ll also do something a little fun. Maybe a trip,” said Margie to Lottery officials.
Margie purchased her winning Lucky-4-Life ticket at Upper Level, located at 519 Broad Street in Meriden. Upper Level will receive a $100 bonus check from the CT Lottery for doing so.