Two Mount Maunganui residents have over a million reasons to be happy this New Year - they are the latest lotto winners and have collected a cool $1,309,612. The lucky ticket that was bought from Take Note and Lotto, in Mount Maunganui, was redeemed about 10am on Sunday, only moments afterthe business opened. Take Note and Lotto owner David Gillingham said the winners had arrived before the doors opened, so eager were they to validate their massive win. "They knew they had won and it's not the first time they have bought a ticket here," he said. "It's great to see a bit of the lotto money come back into the Bay." The ticket was the only division one winner for the first lotto draw for 2005. Mr Gillingham's 19-year-old daughter, Paige, was the one who delivered the winning news. "I thought it was just another ticket and put it through the machine. The next minute the screen came up with $1.3 million," said Ms Gillingham, who has just completed her first year at Victoria University studying for a business and commerce degree. "I told them 'you've won a bit of money here' and then they hugged each other. They didn't scream or dance around. "I think I was just as excited about the win as they were," she said. Not keen to give away the game, the winners remained calm and were taken out the back of the shop to complete some paper work. Ms Gillingham said the duo had decided to travel to Wellington to collect their prize. The division one win was not the only good news for Lotto players in the Bay recently. Winning wheel ticket 752-03124252-20xx was sold at Mags & Cards on Cameron Rd and is still to be claimed. The last winning wheel winner from Tauranga, Helen Hough, took home $500,000 last October. A Triple Dip ticket sold in Opotiki has also won $5000 a week for every week of 2005 in Lotto's New Year promotion. The ticket was sold at Opotiki Pharmacy and the voucher number is 15278.
