Even though theyâre all millionaires now, most of the winners of last weekâs history-making $60-million jackpot will be waking up early to head back to work on Monday morning.
The 31 Newfoundlanders are from the Boilermakers Local 203 union and work in construction at the Come By Chance Refinery in Come By Chance, N.L. They include a pair of twin brothers, a father and son, and a married couple.
Each winner will receive nearly $1.9 million. The $60-million jackpot is the largest in Atlantic Canada history and one of the top five in Canada.
The lucky group was introduced during a boisterous cheque presentation ceremony at the St. Johnâs Convention Centre in St. Johnâs, N.L. on Wednesday.
Sherry Moore Hickey, the sole female and âringleaderâ of the group, purchased the winning ticket and told the assembled audience that she had some trouble convincing her co-workers they had won the big prize.
âI had to call 29 people and be told silly things like, âAre you drinking?â âIs there something wrong with you?ââ she said with a laugh. âI told them all the same story, âWeâre millionaires.â I sent out a text: âThis is not a joke. We are millionaires. Check the tickets.ââ
Her husband, Lee Hickey, didnât appear to have any trouble absorbing the news. He recited the winning numbers to the crowd from memory with a big grin.
After relaying the good news to her fellow winners, Hickey joked that she had won twice that day.
âI was told by 30 men [including her husband] in one day that they all love me so how many women have that happen to them?â she said.
Although there are no plans for a big party with her 29 new âBFFsâ just yet, Hickey said the group will probably get together to celebrate once the dust settles a bit. In the meantime, Hickey bought herself a car and her husband purchased a truck with their winnings.
âWeâre union peopleâ
Out of the 31 winners, 26 of them said they will be returning to work at the oil refinery on Monday morning.
âWeâre union people,â Hickey told the crowd. âWe do what weâre meant to do. This is our livesâŚWeâre going to get up and weâre going to go back to work.â
William Cantwell, 41, is among those planning to go back to work.
âWeâre diehard boilermakers and when boilermakers give their word ... we finish our job,â Cantwell said.
âWe started a job and weâre going to finish. Some of my co-workers, after that are going to move on,â he said. âIm only a young 41-year-old yet so Iâm still going to continue on and work for another few years.â
Eugene Lewis, 63, said he found out they had won the lottery at 4:37 a.m. on Saturday morning and retired two minutes later.
âItâs the end of the storybook, a little happy ending,â said Lewis.
Brent Scrimshaw, the president and CEO of Atlantic Lottery Corp., presented the giant cheque to the group and called the winners âincredibly specialâ during the presentation.
âThey represent the spirit that is Atlantic Canada and they represent what it means to be Newfoundlanders,â he said. âThese folks are going back to work on Monday to finish a job and thatâs pride of place, pride of company and pride of team.â
Tracy Shute, a spokesperson for the company, told Âéśš´ŤĂ˝ Channel earlier on Wednesday that the union workers were âhardworkingâ Newfoundlanders.
âThereâs no bitterness in this province today about this group of winners because everybody is so excited because they can so relate to who they are,â she said.
With a report from NTVâs Kelly-Anne Roberts