A dairy worker from Stanley, Wisconsin, has been able to say goodbye to all those early morning starts thanks to a $1 million US Powerball win.
Robert Bogard, 57, won his big-money prize when his Quick Pick ticket successfully matched all five of the Powerball numbers drawn on Saturday, October 18, 2014. If he'd matched the Powerball number as well he would have scooped the $100 million jackpot.
Bogard didn't realize he'd won until Tuesday morning. He hadn't paid much attention to the numbers when he purchased his ticket. He became more interested in his ticket on Tuesday morning. First he heard news bulletins about a missing winner, then when he topped up his truck's gas tank the clerk jokingly asked him if he'd won. Bogard said "no", but in less than two hours, he had to return and change his answer. He'd checked the ticket by then and realized his answer should have been "yes".
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Bogard recalled how it felt to discover he'd won a $1 million prize.
"I yelled, 'Hallelujah, I can retire now'," he said. "I went in to work, got my rubber boots, and told them I was retiring."
After taxes, Bogard will receive $673,490, but he has no definite plans for the money.
"I paid off my truck, am going to buy me an enclosed trailer for my four-wheeler, and the rest I'm undecided," Bogard said. "Eventually I may buy some property, but I'm not going to rush into much right away. I'll take it one day at a time."
