TOWER- “Never in a million years,” did Crystal Mattson of Tower think she’d have to make a trip to State Lottery headquarters in Roseville to claim a $500,000 prize.

“I thought the $500,000 was a fantasy,” Mattson recalled after discovering her big win on Feb. 19. While claiming her prize on Feb. 21 she said it still hasn’t sunk in. “I won’t think it’s real until I see the money in the bank!”

Mattson, who had been working a shift at the Y Store earlier that day, said she had stopped back at the Y and was visiting with the teenagers working at the store counter when she decided to buy a $20 scratch-off ticket. She is a regular lottery ticket player, but has never won more than $100 before.

“I didn’t see a winning number when I scratched it off,” she said, “But then they put it through the machine and it said $60,000+ winner, has to go to Roseville to claim.” After closer examination, she realized the ticket was for the top prize of half a million dollars.

The ticket was for a game called “Spectacular Riches.” And for Mattson, it was.

“I just about died,” she said. “I called the lottery office and they verified everything.”

The prize, after taxes, came to around $330,000.

“I am paying a lot of bills,” said the mother of two. “I plan on buying a new car, but that’s about it. I am going to save it.”

With her son Jeffrey, a junior at Vermilion Country School, starting to look at college, saving is a good strategy. But Jeffrey, she said, is not so sure.

“He has a lot of ideas how to spend the money,” she said with a laugh.

The Y Store, located about five miles west of Tower on Hwy. 169, will receive a $2,000 retailer-selling bonus. 

This is the first time the Y Store has sold a top prize ticket, Mattson said. “It was unreal. Everyone at the store was so excited.”

Mattson said she is still a believer in lottery tickets.

“I am still buying tickets,” she said.

This story was revised to state that Mattson was not working when she purchased the ticket.