The Wyoming Lottery today announced that the first lottery ticket will be purchased at noon on Sunday, Aug. 24 by Mary Ogg at the Holiday Station, located at 936 Brundage Road in Sheridan.
Ogg was chosen randomly from among the more than 27,000 entrants in a giveaway the Lottery created to promote its upcoming launch. The actual drawing was held on Saturday in order to verify entries. Wyoming Governor Matt Mead and Secretary of State Max Maxfield read the winners names today during a press conference at WyoLotto Headquarters in Cheyenne.
In addition to purchasing the first lottery ticket sold in Wyoming, Ogg also won a 2014 Jeep® Wrangler and free Mega Millions® tickets for a year.
Ogg is a 67-year-old grandmother who never thought that she would win anything and rarely enters to win contests. She entered to win the giveaway at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and then went to Dayton with her husband. “When we came home at 2 p.m., I jokingly asked my husband if the light was blinking on the answering machine. He said yes it is. I said oh no. I pushed the button and heard a call at 1:15 p.m. and again at 1:20 p.m. and thought they really need me to call back. I hope that I am not too late.”
Her choice of location was simple. “We buy most of my fuel at the Holiday Station so it made sense to pick a store that I go to.”
Ogg came to Wyoming in 1969 to teach elementary school in Rock Springs where she met her husband Max. They have lived off and on in Wyoming over the years, moving for work, before returning to Wyoming to retire in Sheridan in 1998.
Secretary of State Maxfield also announced the names of eight other winners, who each won $1,000 and free Mega Millions® tickets for a year. The eight additional winners were drawn from entries received in each of the Wyoming Lottery’s eight geographical areas.
“The Lottery is for all of Wyoming,” said Wyoming Lottery CEO, Jon Clontz. “So we wanted to ensure that the entire state was represented by our winners. These nine were randomly selected from the more than 27,000 giveaway entries that came from virtually every corner of Wyoming.”
Grand Prize Winner Mary Ogg, Sheridan
Area Winners
- Casper: Marion Rohrer
- Cody: Samm Ringgenberg
- Rawlins: Leslie Gustamantes
- Rock Springs: Ken Burton
- Jackson: LJ Bickner
- Shoshoni: Scot Fegler
- Sheridan: Carol Garcia
- Wheatland: Jin Hun Min
To celebrate the occasion of the first ticket sale, the Wyoming Lottery will host a free BBQ with live music at the Holiday Store in Sheridan. The event is open to the public.
The official launch of Powerball® and Mega Millions® sales by the Wyoming Lottery is August 24. For more information about where tickets will be sold, visit www.wyolotto.com.
