Business & Tech

Rydal Man Drives Off With $5 Million Win

Michael Collum bought the lucky ticket at Highway 411 Food Mart in White.

A self-employed tire repairman from Rydal, just outside , is driving off with a Georgia Lottery win. Michael Collum, 55, won a $5 million top prize playing the instant game Super Millions.

“I just stopped and bought a couple of tickets,” Collum said. “I was shocked more than anything else.”

Highway 411 Food Mart, 2472 Highway 411 N.E. in White, sold the winning ticket.

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“I saw all of those zeroes rolling out of there,” Collum recalled. “I scratched it in the store.”

The grandfather of eight said he’s “happy as two or three larks.”

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In addition to his grandchildren, Collum has five adult children with his wife, Janice. He has no plans at the moment for his lottery win but will consider semi-retiring.

“I’m going to take it slowly to see what’s what,” he shared. “It’s very life changing.”

Super Millions is a new instant game with top prizes of $1 million, $2 million, $3 million, $4 million and $5 million. Players can enter non-winning tickets in an extra chance drawing for a chance to win $1 million.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $12.7 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.3 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.


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