The drive to Kamloops Monday was no different than any other drive there for Vernon senior Wade Hardie.
People, he said, were passing him at about 120 kilometres an hour. The roads were good.
The only thing different was the destination.
Hardie was heading to the closest B.C. Lottery Corporation office to collect the $1-million cheque he won for matching the 10 number-Guaranteed Match prize in the Lotto 649 draw Saturday, March 7.
“It feels good,” said Hardie, 76, a retired carpenter and former Vernon Racing Days fixture as a horse trainer/owner, of his million-dollar win. “It’s nice. Now I have no worries.”
Hardie, who has been playing the lotto “since it came out,” bought his winning ticket and verified at his usual haunt, Hunter’s Store on Pleasant Valley Road.
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He was at home Sunday, making sandwiches for a local cribbage tournament with his daughters and wife, Vivian, when the group decided to check their lottery tickets.
“My eldest daughter asked me if I had won because she didn’t. After we finished volunteering I went home to take a nap and checked my ticket,” Hardie said. “I checked out the numbers here (home) and the wife said ‘go and get them checked.’ She didn’t believe me. Only when we got down there and scanned the ticket did she actually believe me.”
The Hardies are coming up on their 50th wedding anniversary and will use the winnings toward a special celebration.
“We’ll be having a big family dinner to celebrate, but maybe we can make our anniversary extra special this year,” he said.
It’s Hardie’s second significant lottery win.
He pocketed $26,000 on the 10th anniversary of Lotto 649.
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