Stillwater, Minnesota real-estate agent Jim Lagoon was playing golf last Thursday when his wife, Jackie, called via cell phone with mind-boggling news.
She'd checked and rechecked that Powerball ticket she'd bought over the weekend. The couple had won the $21.1 million jackpot in the July 7 drawing.
Lagoon, 42, put down the phone and played on, his excitement wreaking havoc on his game. He whacked balls out of bounds, in the water and into the woods.
No matter. "I can buy more golf balls," Lagoon said with a broad smile Monday at the Minnesota State Lottery headquarters in Roseville.
The Lagoons are Minnesota's 17th Powerball jackpot winners, beating the game's odds of 120 million to one. They took several days to claim their prize, thinking hard about money management, before walking into lottery headquarters Monday morning.
But they still appeared stunned as they stepped in front of the cameras later that afternoon to accept the ceremonial oversized check from acting lottery director Mike Vekich.
"It just, you know, doesn't even seem real yet," said Jackie Lagoon, 40, who works in customer service for a Minneapolis company.
The couple, who have been married 17 years, have three children. They've opted to take the money in a lump sum of $11,143,150, which comes to about $7.5 million after taxes.
They're still mulling over how they'll spend it.
"I have no idea," said Jackie Lagoon.
But Jim said a new house is definitely in the future, as well as some serious toys for him and his wife.
Had Jackie's watch not been running a few minutes slow, the couple might have missed their date with lottery destiny.
A lottery devotee, Jackie pulled into the SuperAmerica at 2455 N. Centennial Rd. in North St. Paul on Saturday, July 3, after running an errand.
She intended to buy a ticket for Hot Lotto, another lottery game. While at the counter, she also thought she had a few minutes to sneak in a Powerball ticket for that night's drawing.
Powerball drawings are held Wednesdays and Saturdays, and ticket sales stop at 9 p.m. the night of the drawing.
Turns out that it was really a few minutes after 9 p.m. So her ticket, in which she let the lottery machine pick the numbers, was for the following Wednesday's drawing.
Jackie Lagoon checked the numbers online at work the day after the July 7 drawing.
"And they all matched!" she said. But she stayed at work the rest of the day.
She called Jim right away, though.
"I'm like, are you sitting down? I don't know if you're going to believe this ...," Jackie said, recalling the conversation. "He could tell just by the tone of my voice that ... I wasn't kidding."
A co-worker guessed the Lagoons' good fortune after spying her repeatedly checking and rechecking a lottery ticket. Jackie Lagoon said she hasn't decided yet whether she'll continue working.
Word of the winning ticket spread quickly throughout the couple's family and their Stillwater neighborhood, which is near the northeast suburb's Oak Glen golf course.
Wendy Lineer, who lives in a nearby cul-de-sac, was among those excited for the Lagoons. "To live this close to someone who won makes you believe anything is possible," she said.
Brian Kelly, of Hudson, Wis., coached a Little League baseball team with Jim Lagoon this summer. He said Lagoon is terrific in working with young kids and wished the couple well.
"I guess we know who's going to buy the uniforms and equipment next year," Kelly said with a laugh.
Advice, excitement
Previous Minnesota Powerball winners tuned into news reports about the state's newest lottery millionaires.
Elaine Schumer, one of the 16 Holdingford school employees who split a $95.5 million haul in October 2003, recalled her own exciting day at lottery headquarters.
"When we checked it out and they said it's for real, I was on cloud nine," Schumer said.
The Lagoons should prepare themselves for a deluge of donation requests, Schumer said. In addition, she said they need to find a trusted financial adviser -- quickly.
In Pine Island, Carl Imhof, who won a $9.5 million Powerball jackpot in May 1996, had similar advice.
The amount may "sound like a lot," Imhof said. "But if you don't hold onto to it, you won't have none."
A real estate agent and his wife are the winners? And the wife only purchased one quick pick ticket? Congrats to them, but it would have been good for a very poor person to get it.
I agree Todd, even the lowest jackpots are so big compared to what you have now (unless you are a secret millionaire). I think $5 million would be about as life altering to me as $105 million.
A real estate agent and his wife are the winners? And the wife only purchased one quick pick ticket? Congrats to them, but it would have been good for a very poor person to get it.
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It sounds like they really didn't need the money, but whatever.
I atleast have to get 1 ticket for Mega Millions and Lotto South or I feel am missing out.
MP
Did you see she also plans to play Hot Lotto?
probably the coolest
And once again smn with a lot of money wins more money. Its a lil discouraging but i enjoy fiddeling with my number combination everyweek
Oh yeah, I always play either Powerball or Mega Millions, no matter what.
I agree Todd, even the lowest jackpots are so big compared to what you have now (unless you are a secret millionaire). I think $5 million would be about as life altering to me as $105 million.
Be it $5 million or $105 million, make sure it's CASH.