It was the anniversary gift that will keep on giving literally.
The Delmar couple that won a $20 instant scratch off ticket worth at least $10 million was none other than Bethlehem’s own Patricia and Daniel Parsons. They were presented with their check today at the Hannaford Supermarket in Delmar where Parsons bought the scratch off for her husband as a last minute gift for their 17th wedding anniversary.
According to the New York State Lotto the couple opted to split the prize evenly, which works out to an initial payment each of $80,000 or $54,520 after taxes. The Parsons will then each receive quarterly net payments of $47,297 for a guaranteed 20 years.
The magic number that let them know of their winnings was ironically the number 17, which corresponds to the years of their marriage that they were celebrating and the date that Parsons bought the ticket: Jan. 17.
Patti, as she’s known around town and at the Albany County Executive’s Office where she works, went to Hannaford to buy a chicken diner, but once she discovered they were sold out something else caught her eye.
I was picking up a few things at the store on the day of our anniversary and wanted to buy a fun present for Dan,` she said. `I saw the Win for Life Spectacular ticket and said, ‘That’s perfect.’`
Her husband said he was officially retired at the check presentation in Delaware Plaza but that Patti hasn’t made up her mind. He’s a car salesman for Capital Cities Imported Cars.
Daniel Parsons said they couple plans to pay off some bills, put some aside for their teenaged daughters college and then take a vacation.
`We’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii and Europe,` he said. `Now we can do both.`
Albany County Executive Michael Breslin was on hand and said he hoped they wouldn’t lose Parsons but wished her and her family well. Bethlehem Supervisor Jack Cunningham was also there to help present the check and joked, `Patti, I hope you know your home assessment has just gone up.`
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