You have to love a great lottery story and the Van Dusen’s latest luck is just that. This Chestermere family scooped up a million cool ones from the June 28 Lotto Max draw.
The Van Dusens planned their way into early retirement when in their fifties but in 2002 lost everything through investment misfortune that put them back in mortgage debt. In a twist of fate 11 years later this latest windfall has put them back on track being able to pay off not only their mortgage but their 3 kid’s as well. A shiny new truck also sits on the drive.
John Van Dusen has been buying lottery tickets”since always.” This winning ticket was picked up at the Winks Store at 4721 17 Ave SE Calgary. Van Dusen went in to check his numbers and saw many zeros show up on the ticket checker. “Maybe it’s because I’m an old guy that I didn’t see that it was a million, there were a lot of zeros,” he said as he shows the shot from his phone camera. “I showed it to the cashier who told me they couldn’t cash anything over $1000 and to go the Buffalo Sports Bar at the Calgary Casino in the north east.”
The cashier there checked his ticket, and immediately put her hand to her heart in shock. She was indeed holding the million dollar winning ticket.
The family echoed that it was a lucky 13 year for them. Van Dusen had bought the heart and stroke fund calendars for each family member in December that offered a daily prize draw so decided to get on board when the new lotto max came out in the winter. He said he collects $30 each month from all of them with an agreement made how to share the proceeds depending on whose ticket wins.
When asked if they will continue buying lottery tickets the family echoes, “of course, lightening strikes twice.” His daughter laughs when she reiterates her Dad’s reply when asking him how he felt after finding out about the windfall. “Like a million bucks”, he replied with a grin.
