Thursday, November 27, 1997
Lotteryville, U.S.A. -- not so rich, but not
as deep in debt
By MARK BABINECK / Associated Press
ROBY -- Not even a $46.7 million lottery ticket could wipe
out years of tough times for area cotton farmers and the people
who depend on them.
Sure, backs got slapped and smiles stretched wide last Thanksgiving
Eve when 43 happy locals split the fat Lotto Texas jackpot. That
was real nice, townspeople say.
But nicer still a year after the windfall -- even with loans
retired, 1997 cars in driveways and a new cottonseed oil mill
up and running -- is a bumper cotton crop and the end of three
years of drought.
That kind of good fortune gives all 600-odd residents a reason
to give thanks, they say.
"Nearly the whole community is in cotton," says Peggy
Dickson, bookkeeper at the local cotton gin and coordinator of
the lottery pool. "When everybody makes a crop, it helps.
And it's looking like everybody made a pretty decent crop this
year."
While the lottery winners collected about $1.6 million in annual
tax-free checks this month, the cotton crop should bring in more
than $20 million. Long-stagnant cotton prices have inched to a
profitable level, making Roby's bales that much more valuable.
And agriculture will influence the future, even for the lottery
winners, predicts financial planner Tim Riggan. "I imagine
they'll put the checks into a money market account until they
get the cotton crop in and get it sold," Riggan says. "They
won't make any moves until they see where they stand financially."
Any visitor expecting streets of gold running through this
four-stoplight town will be disappointed. The most visible sign
of big winnings is a rash of shiny new trucks. After all, each
of the 43 winners receives just $39,000 after taxes each year
for the next 19 years.
"New cars, that's the main thing," says Rex Beauchamp,
one of the entrants in the Nov. 27, 1996, lottery pool. "I
asked our local mechanic how business was, and he said it wasn't
too good. Too many new pickup trucks."
Journalists and curiosity seekers have made Roby a slightly
busier place than usual over the last 12 months. A producer was
even nosing around about a made-for-television movie. But for
all the hoopla, Roby's hard-working people are still quick with
a smile and willing to discuss the lottery bonanza with strangers
for the umpteenth time.
Beauchamp, one of a few who sold their shares in the pool for
lump-sum payments, says he's still working 70- to 80-hour weeks
at his convenience store.
"There's not a whole lot you can do with $39,000,"
he said. "It's good, don't get me wrong. But I'd be filing
bankruptcy if I didn't have (the total payoff)."
The money paid his daughter's college loans and his business
debts. And bought a new pickup, of course.
Restaurant owner Manuel Valdez says he's putting away most
of his winnings for retirement but will use a small chunk to open
a second Susie's Fish and Grill, named for his wife, in neighboring
Sweetwater.
The biggest single winner in the Thanksgiving pool was Jim
Carson, owner of Longhorn Liquor in Sweetwater where the pool
members bought their tickets -- 10 each for $10.
Not only did Carson share in the pool, he also earned a $467,000
bonus as the ticket's vendor.
"I paid off the house, cars, business notes and MasterCard,
and invested the rest of it," Carson says.
With the bonus, Carson has been able to splurge. He treated
his family to their first weeklong vacation since 1975 -- and
made it a $30,000 Alaska cruise in the penthouse suite, highlighted
by two helicopter sweeps over the glaciers.
In a way, Carson hits the lottery before each Wednesday and
Saturday night drawing. Of the state's 17,402 lottery outlets,
Longhorn Liquor has leapt from No. 5,534 in sales in 1996 to No.
113.
"The other day when (the jackpot) was $55 million, I sold
20,000 tickets," Carson says. His commission was $1,000.
But Carson has gone without the one outward sign most favored
by his co-winners: the new pickup. He's making do with a 1989
Dodge Ram he bought used last year -- from a man who'd won a smaller
lottery that June. The odometer shows more than 100,000 miles,
but Carson says it's his lucky truck.
"At a Lions Club raffle awhile back I won a grill,"
Carson says. "They sold 750 tickets and I won the damn thing,
Can you believe it? I'm still lucky."
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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