CHARLESTON,W.Va. – They’ve been dubbed the Beckley 27. Twenty-seven people, most of them employees of the Beckley Register-Herald, cashed in their winning Powerball ticket from February 8 Tuesday at West Virginia Lottery headquarters in Charleston. They didn’t hit the jackpot but they got 5 numbers correct.
The ticket they had in hand had the numbers 24, 25, 34, 37 and 54. Their Powerball number was 28. The winning Powerball number that night was 29. They were one number away from taking home $247 million.
But don’t think these winners are sore losers. Diana Slone, one of the Beckley 27, said she’s more than happy with her winnings.
“I was just in shock!”
Each of the Beckley 27 received a check worth $25,370. Slone and fellow Register-Herald employee Lisa Stadelman were glad to represent their coworkers.
“It’s a little unreal,” said Stadelman. “It feels more real now but I don’t think it seemed real until today.”
Both Slone and Stadelman said they plan to use a little of the money to do some traveling. The rest is going in their savings accounts.
This isn’t the first time the employees at the Register-Herald have hit it big with Powerball. Back in 2002, Slone, Stadelman and 29 other co-workers won $100,000 with a Powerball ticket. That was worth about $2,500 each. About a dozen of those employees were repeat winners this time around.
None of the Beckley 27 plan to retire on their small fortunes but they are hoping the third time will be the charm with Powerball. They’re still playing.
“We already have and we’re all playing for the 400 million dollars,” laughed Stadelman. That’s the jackpot for this Wednesday’s drawing.
There would be one change if they won that money. More people in the office have now joined their Powerball pool.
“Everyone is Powerball crazy now,” Stadelman said.
The Beckley 27 is the second of three recent winners to come forward. Last week, Randy Brown of Logan County walked away a millionaire after he purchased a Mega Millions ticket with 5 correct numbers. Then Saturday, someone purchased a Powerball ticket on Wheeling Island with 5 correct numbers. That winner has yet to come forward. Those tickets were all sold within a week of each other.