Lottery ticket gives North Carolina man a $1 million win just in time for Thanksgiving

Pandemic restrictions have spoiled Thanksgiving plans for many Americans — but a man in the North Carolina mountains is celebrating like never before after winning $1 million in the N.C. Education Lottery.

It’s entirely possible that Kenneth Smith is now the richest person in Danbury, which has a population of 183 people and a median household income of $57,658 as of 2017 data, according to City-Data.com. Danbury is in Stokes County, on the state’s Virginia border.

Smith collected his cash Tuesday at the lottery headquarters in Raleigh, a news release said.

His win came after buying a $10 Carolina Black: Millionaire Edition ticket at Briggs Grocery in Danbury, the release said. Smith recalled that he “sat in awe” as scratched away on the card and saw his ticket slowly align with the game’s top prize numbers.

He beat odds of 1 in 1,200,000 to win the money.

“I’ve been trying for a long time,” he said in the release. “It feels great.”

Lottery winners can either take a lump sum or get an “annuity of 20 payments of $50,000 a year,” officials said.

Smith chose the lump sum, which took him down a few notches from being a millionaire to a well-to-do guy with $600,000. State and federal taxes ate about $175,000, leaving him with $424,503 in take-home money for Thanksgiving. Lottery officials didn’t say what he intended to do with the money.

Carolina Black: Millionaire was launched in September with five $1 million prizes and four have been won already, the state said.

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Lottery ticket gives North Carolina man a $1 million win just in time for Thanksgiving."