Lotto Winner Wants Shoes for Children

A Canoga Park mother of six said Monday that she wants to buy a house and Reeboks for the children but otherwise hasn’t decided what to do with her winnings from her $6.38-million Lotto jackpot.

“It’s been a lot of confusion,” said Carol Andrisano, 42. “It’s been a real shock. We’re trying to get used to the idea.”

Her children, who range in age from 10 to 22, have deluged her with requests, she said. “Kids are kids; they say, ‘Can I go buy a car tomorrow?’ ”

Now that she’s got $255,200 a year coming for the next 20 years, Andrisano said she and her family will move out of the one-story yellow stucco house that she rents in a cul de sac on Keokuk Avenue. But she said it’s too early to say where they will go.

She beat odds of 1 in 13.98 million, with six winning numbers on a ticket bought at a 7-Eleven store at Hubbard Avenue and 2nd Street in San Fernando.

Andrisano, who is divorced, said she buys five tickets for each Lotto drawing but had never been to that store before.

As she customarily does, she bought “quick pick” tickets. “I usually get five quick picks--I don’t like standing there picking numbers,” she said.

On Saturday about midnight, she said, she stopped at a 7-Eleven store in Canoga Park to get a list of the winning numbers and couldn’t believe her eyes.

“I ran around like a lunatic, and nobody wanted to come near me. I went to a couple of stores because I didn’t know what to do, how to go about winning like that.” She guarded the ticket until Monday morning, when she turned it in.

She also stopped in to tell the news at Harpi’s Sandwich Shop in Canoga Park, where she has been working part time. “I feel she really deserves what’s coming to her,” said manager Stephen Iozzia.

And she bought an answering machine. “At least I can screen my phone calls. I guess there’s going to be a lot of people calling.”