The winning $420 Powerball Lottery ticket from Saturday night's drawing belongs to a group of 20 factory workers in Tennessee. Today these lottery jackpot winners are seeing their 15 minutes of fame along with a much brighter financial future.
They have dubbed themselves the "Tennessee 20" and the media is all over their individual stories today. This group is in the midst of elation after heading out together on Tuesday to claim the one winning ticket worth $420.9 million from Saturday night's Powerball Lottery.
Weekly Powerball tickets
For eight years these 20 manufacturing plant co-workers have chipped in and purchased $120 worth of Powerball Lottery tickets every Wednesday and Saturday and this weekend their persistence paid off. The group opted for the cash value or the Powerball prize, which is $254 million, awarding each $12.7 million.
Car engines and termites
The stories coming out of this one winning ticket are amazing and they are stories that the average American worker can relate to. One of the co-workers who picked up his share of the Powerball prize is 54-year-old Steve Huffman. Up until Saturday if his "check engine" light went on in his car, he would have been rendered financially strapped.
He has worried about that light for some time now, but those days are gone. Most of these co-workers lived like the majority of Americans today, paycheck to paycheck.
Jason Jones of the Tennessee 20 and his wife recently found out that termites have litterally consumed their house. This was evident when his foot went through their kitchen floor. The fix and remodeling of the house was going to entail a loan from the bank, but there's no need for any bank paperwork now thanks to that Powerball jackpot!
Can't quit work just yet!
According to WKRN News, this group of Tennessee millionaires seem to be a loyal bunch. They've conveyed how they cannot quit their jobs just yet at the American Stamping Company because if they did the company would be left "high and dry" for someone to do their jobs.
The metal manufacturing company is located in Portland, Tennessee, but the winning co-workers hail from 13 different towns and cities in Tennessee and Kentucky.
A few of the Tennessee 20 plan to retire, but the majority of the group plan to go right on working, or at least that's what they say for now. When the group went to the state's lottery headquarters on Tuesday to claim their prize there were screams, tears and a lot of pondering about what that money will do for their families!
Dreams turn into reality
The dreams of winning the Powerball jackpot have been with this group for eight years, but the reality of those dreams coming true were only a few days old on Tuesday. College tuition for the kids, paying off bills and maybe a new car seemed to be the theme among the Tennessee 20 when it came to their new shared windfall.