$1M Winning Ticket 'Huge News' In Tiny Illinois Town Of 1K

MITCHELL, IL – A lucky resident of a small town just outside of St. Louis may be the state’s newest millionaire after Illinois Lottery officials said that a $1 million winning ticket had been sold at a local convenience store there.

The winning Mega Millions ticket was sold on Tuesday at 508 Variety Shop, which is located on Chain of Rocks Road in Mitchell, which has a population of just about 1,000 people, lottery officials announced on Thursday.

Amber Ronk, who owns and operates the variety shop, suspects the winner is a local resident of Mitchell given the fact that about 90 percent of the store’s customers reside in the tiny Illinois border town.

But as small as the town may be, news of a new millionaire is anything but that.

“This really is huge news for our town,” Ronk said in a news release issued by the Illinois Lottery. “Mitchell is a very small town —blink and you might miss it. I am so excited for the winner.”

She added: “I hope I find out who won so we can bask in the joy with them.”

Ronk said not only is the winning ticket a big deal in town, but it’s also big news for the store, where she began working as a cashier 14 years ago. She said that she was hired by the former owner, who introduced her to his son whom she then married and later became the owner.

For selling the winning ticket, the store will earn a bonus of 1 percent of the winnings — or $10,000.

“Owning a business can be stressful and every day has its challenges,” Ronk said.”I am hoping to spend some of the bonus on a vacation with my family, so I can enjoy some quality time with my husband and kids.”

She added: “(Owning the store has) been a learning process, and it’s been a wonderful experience. Life really is all about the journey.”

The lucky player purchased the winning ticket matching all five numbers in the January 16 Mega Millions drawing to score the $1,000,000 prize. The winning numbers were: 2-10-42-49-54 with a Megaplier number of 13.

Two other players also won prizes of $1,000,000 in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, with winners in Michigan and South Carolina. More than 21,000 winning tickets were purchased by Illinois Lottery players for the drawing.