Denver Construction Worker Gets Big Return From $5 Ticket

DENVER – The Colorado Lottery Prize Patrol strikes again. Steven Fern of Denver was shaking with shock when Colorado Lottery officials surprised him with a $100,000 check today at Lakewood High School.

The electrician, who is part of the construction crew working on the new high school, is the winner of the second-chance drawing for the $5 Super Multiplier Crossword Scratch game.

“This is just awesome,” said Fern, who plays a Lottery Scratch game each morning before he starts work at 6:30 a.m. “Maybe I might take the day off.”

Fern’s ticket was selected randomly from about 33,000 entries.

Although he was born in Beulah and has lived in Colorado his entire life, he said there are many places across the state he has always wanted to see, such as the Georgetown Loop. In addition to a vacation, this proud Colorado native also plans to use the winnings to pay bills, help family members and possibly buy a new truck.

The Colorado Lottery offers more than a dozen second-chance drawings each year on select Scratch games. Players can enter their non-winning tickets for the second-chance drawings by mail or via the Internet. To see the current list of eligible drawings, visit the Web at www.coloradolottery.com/games/scratch/secondchance. Second-chance winners of top prizes are drawn 60 days after the game ends.

The King Soopers at 2810 Quebec St. in Denver sold the original Super Multiplier Crossword Scratch ticket.

In Denver County, more than $107 million in Lottery proceeds have helped to improve community facilities, local parks and nature trails such as the South Platte River Corridor, Denver Botanic Gardens and Teaching Barn at the Urban Farm in Stapleton.

Proceeds from the Colorado Lottery’s games - Scratch, Lotto, Powerball and Cash 5 - stay in Colorado to improve the quality of life in the state. In 2006, more than $120 million was returned to Colorado. Since the lottery started in 1983, more than $1.8 billion has been returned to the state. 

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