Belated Birthday Surprise!

It was a couple of weeks late for a birthday gift, but Deanna H. of Collins didn’t mind. Her $3,000 prize on a 3 Times Lucky scratch-off ticket from the Mississippi Lottery was the best present.

Thursday, Deanna stopped at her regular store – Dandy Dan’s in Collins – and purchased $20 worth of tickets.

“There weren’t any winners in the first three tickets,” she said. “Then, I got two free tickets. When the clerk scanned the next ticket, it said, ‘Collect at Lottery Office.”

Deanna did not know how much she had won until she scratched off the portion of the ticket revealing the prize. The clerk hugged her neck in excitement.

Deanna has definitive ideas on how she plans to utilize her winnings.

“First, I’m going to give 10 percent to the church,” she said. “I’m going to pay my rent, and pay a little ahead on my rent, and then I’m going to pamper myself.”