They arrived at the Lottery only a few minutes apart. Complete strangers who live maybe a dozen miles from each other nearly 300 miles away in another state. Hyrum Haworth and Brittany Sessions both found themselves in the Idaho Lottery’s winner lobby about mid-day one Monday. Haworth held a winning Huckle-buried Treasure scratch ticket worth $30,000 while Brittany held a winning Macho Nacho scratch ticket worth $50,000.
“I think I saw you at the rest area near Bliss,” laughed Haworth. “We could have carpooled.”
Haworth was visiting the Boise metro area over the weekend, attending an event with his wife near Payette. His ticket was purchased from Jacksons on Eagle Road near the I-84 interchange. Even though the couple new the ticket was a winner, they returned to Utah on Sunday so Haworth’s wife could return to work on Monday while Haworth drove back to Boise to claim the prize.
Before making a second round trip back to Utah in as many days, Haworth said he plans to pay off some bills with his winnings, including for a motorbike he has in the garage at home.
Meanwhile, Sessions claimed the first top prize on the game Macho Nacho shortly after Haworth. Her $50,000 winning ticket was purchased while on one of her regular trips to Malad’s Chat & Chew along the Idaho-Utah border last Saturday.
“I didn’t really believe it. I even tossed it in the air after everyone was telling me I’d won,” said Sessions who became teary-eyed when she was handed her winning check. “It’s just allergies.”
Sessions plans to take her family on a trip to southern California and then save the balance of her winnings.
For selling the winning tickets, Jacksons receives a bonus of $3,000 while the Chat & Chew in Malad receives a bonus of $5,000.