Blenheim’s Adrian Olmstead has 70 million reasons to smile these days.
Olmstead has been announced as the recent $70 million LOTTO MAX winner in Chatham-Kent.
Adrian Olmstead of Blenheim was overcome with emotion upon discovering he was holding the one and only winning ticket for the $70 million LOTTO MAX jackpot from the Tuesday, April 14, 2020 draw.
“I went into the local grocery store, saw there was no one at the Ticket Checker and checked four tickets in my pocket,” recounted the 44-year-old as he collected his life-changing windfall at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto. “From the first three tickets I only had a Free Play but when I scanned the fourth ticket, I saw ‘Big Winner’ and thought I saw $70,000 flashing. I checked it a few more times and was stunned to realize it was $70 million!”
At that moment he abandoned his full shopping cart, quickly walked out of the store, got into his truck and started to weep. While in the grocery store parking lot, he phoned his mom, who heard him crying and was instantly worried. “I told her, ‘These are tears of joy Mom because I just won $70 million with LOTTO MAX!’ I had to repeat myself a few times because she was in shock. But when reality sunk in, my mom, who never swears, yelled a few expletives!”
Still in his truck in the grocery store parking lot, Adrian spent quite a bit of time talking with his mom about this incredible fortune and what the future holds. “She went into ‘mom mode’ and started giving me some advice about how to navigate this life-changing event.”
The stay-at-home father of two children said he took a bit of time before coming forward to claim the ticket because he wanted to ensure he had the best advice on how to handle the money and how it would impact his and his family’s lives. “My priority is that we live a good life, but I want to raise my children to know the value of a dollar, understand the meaning of hard work and to teach them how to provide for themselves when they are adults.”
Adrian has plans to buy a new home with lots of land, so his children have plenty of room to play and will take care of his mother. But he does want to splurge on couple of “toys” for the family such as an RV, so that they can travel across Canada and wants to have new fishing boat in tow on those adventures. Adrian reluctantly admitted he also wants to purchase a “fast car” as a special treat for himself.
“The most important thing to me has always been to provide for my family. I can now do that in ways I never dreamed of before. This money can even ensure a good fortune for my future grandchildren.”
The winning ticket was purchased at the Petro Canada/Double Seven Gas Bar on Chatham Street in Blenheim.
