FULLERTON : Man, Friend Share $17-Million Jackpot
Paul Kelso says he will always have fond memories of the last pizza he delivered for Domino’s on Wednesday night.
“It was certainly the last one I’ll ever deliver,” said the 35-year-old Fullerton resident, who learned the same night that he and a friend, David Green of Portland, Ore., won the $17.96-million Lotto jackpot.
With the help of a Quick Pick card, Kelso and Green scored with 17, 21, 22, 28, 33, 51--the six winning numbers--at a 7-Eleven store on Associated Road in Fullerton. Each will receive $359,200 a year after taxes for 20 years.
Kelso, who has been employed at Domino’s Pizza in Anaheim for the past few months, said he and Green frequently shared Lotto tickets. The two, who have been friends for 10 years, had purchased the winning ticket when Green came to visit Monday before returning to Portland.
“From time to time, I’ll call him and ask to pick me up a few tickets,” said Green, 34, while sitting in the local Lotto offices in Orange. “I come down to visit him a couple of times a year, and we usually always pick up a few.”
In a press conference Thursday, Kelso and Green were tired but exuberant. Both admitted they had slept little since learning of their good fortune.
“I went home and one by one went through the four tickets we’d bought,” said Kelso, who buys Lotto tickets once every two weeks. “When I got to the third ticket I realized that that was it.”
Kelso added that after taking a few moments to “pull himself together,’ he called Green in Portland to tell him the news.
“At first I thought he was just pulling my leg--having a good time,” said Green, a self-employed railroad maintenance worker who, along with his wife, Cindy, took an early-morning plane from Portland. “I mean the last thing you expect is for someone to tell you you’ve just won $17 million.” Kelso, who is single, said he will buy a house with his winnings. But Kelso and Green, both avid basketball fans, say the big purchases can wait. They hope to purchase tickets for the Laker/Bulls NBA finals for either Friday or Sunday night.
“I am an all-out Lakers fan, so much so that when I used to play Lotto alone, I’d usually choose the jersey numbers of Cooper, Kareem and Magic when they were all playing together,” Kelso said.
As for the Greens, they still aren’t too sure of what they’ll do with the money.
“I mean, you always think about what you’d do if you win a lot of money,” Green said. “But when you do, it hits you so hard that you can’t even think straight.”
