CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Lake County’s oldest grocery store this week made history when it sold a SuperLotto ticket that ended up being the largest jackpot won in the county since the state lottery began.
Gary Nylander, owner of the Red and White Store in Clearlake Oaks, said that shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday he received a call from the California State Lottery, notifying him that one of two multimillion dollar lottery tickets had been sold at his store.
The California State Lottery reported that the winning ticket sold at the Red and White Store was one of two tickets that matched all five numbers plus the mega number in Saturday night’s $28 million SuperLotto Plus drawing.
The winning numbers were 30, 27, 4, 3 and 39, with the mega number being 3.
The holder of the Clearlake Oaks ticket will receive $14 million, as will the person who purchased the second ticket at the Ocean Super Market in Milpitas, according to the California State Lottery Web site.
Nylander, whose store has sold lottery tickets since the state lottery began 28 years ago, said it’s the biggest jackpot in the county’s history.
As of Sunday evening, Nylander said the winner had not yet come forward, adding that winners can remain anonymous.
“I really hope it’s one of my customers that shops regularly,” he said.
Nylander said he doesn’t know when, precisely, the ticket was purchased, only that the sale occurred sometime this past week. He said in his experience most SuperLotto tickets are sold the same days as the drawings, which take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
It’s also a win for Nylander’s store, which his grandparents – Cory and Eddie Nylander – opened in 1933.
Up until this point, selling lottery tickets alone hasn’t been a very profitable offering for the store, with Nylander pointing out that they receive six cents for every ticket sold.
However, as the retailer who sold the winning ticket, Nylander will receive $70,000 – or one half of 1 percent of the jackpot – from the California State Lottery. In about three weeks he should be receiving his check.
“It will go back into the store,” he said. “We’ve seen some pretty lean years.”
Just this past year Nylander put about $30,000 in new paint and signage into the store, which sits along Highway 20, next to Nylander Park. Nylander and his family sold the property for the park to the county several years ago at a reduced rate, with the park helping form a new town center.
Nylander has been running the store since 1983. He plans to retire this year and hand over the store to his daughter, Jodie, making it a fourth-generation family business.
He said he hopes that being the source of the county’s biggest lottery ticket will draw some hopeful lottery enthusiasts from farther afield.
With the infusion of cash and excitement – plus some extraordinarily good luck – Nylander said, “I’m feeling pretty good today.”
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