So where do two of America's newest multimillion-dollar lottery winners eat lunch to celebrate? Try the Steak n Shake.
Norman and Deanna Shue went to the burger joint Thursday after finding out they had won half of Wednesday's $221.5 million Powerball jackpot. They wanted to claim the prize but couldn't because state offices were closed for New Year's Day.
The construction project manager from Concord, N.C., and his computer-programmer wife can take $110.75 million over 30 years or an immediate lump sum of $60.1 million, before taxes.
The holder of the other winning ticket, sold in York, Pa., had not come forward as of midday Friday.
The Shues said they are not sure what they will do next beyond get some financial and legal advice and change their phone number.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," a shellshocked Deanna Shue said.
Norman Shue had stopped by a store and bought 20 tickets to the multistate lottery Wednesday morning, letting the computer pick his numbers. The Shues did not watch the drawing and did not even check their numbers until around lunchtime the next day.
They hid the ticket in a cabinet so their cats could not get to it, Norman Shue said. They moved it from cabinet to cabinet throughout the day for safekeeping, he said.
The Shues have no children. He is 33; she is "almost 30."
They said they have not thought much about whether they will keep their jobs.
Of course, the guys at Norman Shue's job are going to feel mighty foolish. He said they told him Wednesday morning he was just throwing his money away by buying lottery tickets.
I'm concerned that whoever the Shues consult for financial, legal, tax etc advice will have little if any "lottery" experience (given where they live), and would suggest they take the annuity, given they are somewhat young.
This story is instructive for those who doubted that someone living in a non-lottery state can legally play and WIN the lottery from another state.
I'm concerned that whoever the Shues consult for financial, legal, tax etc advice will have little if any "lottery" experience (given where they live), and would suggest they take the annuity, given they are somewhat young.
They will be alright, Charlotte is right down the road, and it's a major banking center.
TC:
Wachovia has made its presence known here in NY (and in Times Square).