By By Arthur McLean
Hurricane Frances couldn't keep Lady Luck away from the Florida Lottery and the winner could be someone from this area.
The O' Yes store just across the state line on FL 97, sold the sole winning lottery ticket Saturday, worth $18 million.
"Of course, we're excited," said Kathy Kroll, who runs the store with her husband Tommy. "We have a lot of regulars from around here, and we're really hoping it's one of them."
So far, no one has publicly claimed the winning ticket. The Krolls' do know the ticket wasn't a quick pick, where the computers automatically select random numbers. "We think somebody probably played birthdays or ages," Tommy Kroll said.
The winning numbers are: 01-06-08-11-12-37.
This isn't the first time the business sold a winning ticket. Last week the couple sold a winning Fantasy 5 ticket, and an $8 million Lottery ticket was sold at the store several years ago, the couple said.
The neon-green building has its share of regulars, the Krolls said. "We get people who come in every month and play for a month at a time, from Georgia and Tennessee," Kathy Kroll said. "We have a lot of regulars. They'll stop in and talk about the weather, politics, what's happening in the area. It's kind of a meeting place."
The Krolls said they heard from a lot of players and a lot of news outlets in the days since the winning ticket was announced. "We've heard from Monroeville, Montgomery- everybody knows about it – it's like there's a grapevine," Kathy Kroll said.
The winner can have the ticket verified at the store or at the lottery district office in Pensacola, but will have to go to Tallahassee to claim the prize. "We've always told our players that we would shauffeur them to Tallahassee if they won," Kroll said.
The Krolls look forward to getting a little more business as the lucky store, but that's all they'll get, unless the winner is generous. Store that sell the winning tickets do not get a bonus or commission like in other lotteries, the Krolls said. "Maybe the winner will be generous," said Tommy Kroll.
The Krolls have owned the store for 4 years, and the business has been open since the lottery opened 14 years ago.