Hoping for Happiness at Bluebird

While much of the nation’s attention focused on the Democratic National Convention, many in Los Angeles were lured away Wednesday by another spectacle.

The California Lotto jackpot topped $85 million, the fourth-largest in state history.

The dream of easy money prompted the sale of 11,000 tickets per minute Wednesday, compared to a normal statewide average of about 2,000 per minute, according to Cathy Doyle-Johnston of the California Lottery. About $3 million worth of tickets were expected to be sold during the after-work rush.

Although the six winning numbers were announced Wednesday night, Lotto officials will not know until today if the money, which has been accumulating since July 15, will find an owner.

Thousands of hopeful players lined up all day at Hawthorne’s Bluebird Liquor.

For years, the tiny minimarket on Hawthorne Boulevard has been uncommonly lucky at selling lottery tickets: Only two other stores in California have sold more winners.

Customers filled the store’s small parking lot to wait--some for well over an hour--under blazing sun to buy the small white and orange tickets.

After years of dispensing lottery luck, owner Frank Kumamoto knows how to manage the crowds: He calls in extra workers to work cash registers and forms two lines--a shorter one for those who buy merchandise with their tickets, the other for those who just want tickets. He also stocks up on boxes of pencils for filling out Lotto forms.

As the dual lines inched forward Wednesday, a roar went up in the crowd. “Oh no!” a woman gasped. “The bluebird!”

Someone had knocked the store’s lucky bluebird mascot, made of cloth, off a cash register.

With the bird back in place, cashier Jesus Vasquez processed a phone order from Kumamoto’s uncle for 2,000 tickets. Another woman stepped up to buy 50 for herself and co-workers. A man used the store’s copy machine to photocopy tickets he was sharing with friends and family.

The store’s legendary status is such that TV news crews know Kumamoto personally, and some customers who simply want groceries go elsewhere.

Kumamoto isn’t complaining. “This is very, very good for business,” he said with a smile as he stocked cigarettes behind the counter. “It’s another crazy day.”

As they waited, customers said they had no regrets about taking time from their day for such a long shot. No regrets that they might be missing, say, the arrival in town of the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

“Am I missing Al Gore?” said Michelle Acquah-Franklin, 35, a Los Angeles International Airport payroll worker. “Well, he’s got $85 million already--or access to it. I’m the one that needs it.”

Isabel Vasquez, 36, a teachers assistant from Hawthorne, agreed. “I’m not staying home with this jackpot going around. Never mind that convention.”

Kenneth Penn, 33, who is unemployed, admitted he would probably be watching the convention at home if he were not at the Bluebird. “But, right now, people are interested in the immediate riches versus politics,” he said. “Money has a way of making dreams come true.”

Two weeks ago, Bluebird sold a $385,000 Fantasy Five lottery ticket that has yet to be claimed. If it is, the winner with be memorialized--along with hundreds of other winners--on Kumamoto’s ceiling. There, he has pasted scores of small signs with the dates and amounts of winnings his store has processed.

Marvin Hamilton, 72, has been buying his tickets at Bluebird for years, but the most he has won is $85. He had been on his way to the gym Wednesday when he took a detour for his tickets.

“When the Lotto is this high,” he said. “I hope, I hope, I hope.”