A Bath man is $2 million richer than he was two weeks ago, when he purchased a winning Powerball ticket from a Bath supermarket.
Theodore Drake was identified by the Maine State Lottery as the holder of the winning ticket in a news release Tuesday.
Drake declined to speak with a reporter when contacted Tuesday evening, but Kimberly Brackett, co-owner of Brackett’s Market on Front Street, said Drake’s good fortune will benefit her employees.
The owners of the popular market, which has operated in downtown Bath for about 15 years, will receive $20,000 from the Maine State Lottery for selling the winning ticket. Brackett said she and co-owner Steve Brackett have decided to give each worker a share of their winnings – a $350 bonus for each employee.
“I had workers come into my office and give me a hug. Others had tears in their eyes. One of my employees said, ‘We all won the lottery.’ It was a hard winter for everyone. Giving back to my employees was a no-brainer,” Brackett said when contacted at the market Tuesday evening.
Brackett said she sold the winning Powerball ticket to Drake on May 6. She remembers the encounter well because Drake is her Scrabble partner.
Brackett said she has known Drake, a retired obstetrician, for years.
“He’s a lovely man and good friend of our family,” she said.
Brackett said she rarely, if ever, sells lottery tickets to customers, but on May 6 Drake had come into the store to give her a Scrabble dictionary to help her improve her word skills.
“I play Scrabble with Ted and I am terrible,” she said. “Every time that I play with him, I lose.”
After giving her the dictionary, Brackett sold him one Powerball ticket for $1. Then he decided to spend another dollar to upgrade his ticket to the Power Play option.
By doing that, Drake won $2 million instead of $1 million.
Brackett said she knew on May 7 that Drake had won, but kept quiet until he was identified by the Maine State Lottery.
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