TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – What would YOU do if you won the lottery? Visions of vacations, early retirement, and a new car probably come to mind. A group of healthcare workers from Munson Hospital in Michigan were confronted with that surprising and joyous question recently.
The “Heroes to Zeroooos Lottery Club,” which includes 78 nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers who work at the Munson Hospital in Traverse City, matched all of the right numbers in the October 31st Powerball drawing and were able to claim a $1 million prize last week.
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According to the Michigan Lottery, BJ Bossert Jr., the lottery club’s representative, bought the winning ticket at the CVS pharmacy at 636 West Front Street in Traverse City. Bossert Jr. said that the lottery club, which started several years ago, has about 65 members who play consistently but that “anyone can throw in money whenever they choose.”
He started a Facebook page for the club where he posts who contributes to the tickets and he also posts the results of each drawing. In the past, the club had never won more than about $200 in a drawing.
Imagine the surprise when the club members heard the great news that their ticket was a winner. A big winner.
Bossert Jr. told the Michigan Lottery, “I purchased a Powerball ticket the afternoon of the drawing and then checked the results the next morning at about 4:30 a.m. When I saw we had won $1 million, I was in shock! I posted in the Facebook group and said I had a special announcement coming later that day and planned to share the good news when I was done with work. A few hours later, I posted an article on the Facebook page about a $1 million winning Powerball ticket being sold in Traverse City. After I shared the article, club members began frantically reaching out asking if it was our club who had won, and that’s when I shared the big news!”
The club members showed up at the MiddleCoast Brewing in Traverse City on January 5th where they were presented with their checks for approximately $12,800.
However, new father Andrew Morse had a little detour to make before collecting the winnings. Morse and his fiancé Tiffany Butler had a new baby boy, their first child, on January 4th at 7:24 p.m., the day before the checks were handed out.
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The baby’s name is Emmett Christopher Morse and he came into the world weighing 7 lbs. and 1 oz. He is 19-inches long with “lots of brown hair” according to his mom’s Facebook post. 24 hours after Emmett’s arrival into the world, Andrew left the hospital to gather his documents and paperwork and took off to MiddleCoast Brewing for about an hour to pick up his check. Then it was back to the hospital to be with Tiffany and Emmett.
Morse and Butler, who are both in the lottery club and were both winners in the Powerball drawing, have been playing the lottery intermittently for the past few years, paying more attention to it as the pots got bigger.
Morse just finished nursing school and Butler is a nursing assistant. They met int he E.R. and were friends and co-workers before they fell in love. Butler will go back to the E.R. after taking off 12 weeks for maternity leave. Morse is not currently working at Munson right now. He’s been gone about six months, working in long-term care, but is planning on a return to critical care.
In addition to spending the money on baby supplies and some home repairs, Morse said, “I was thinking that we would open up some sort of bond or certificate of deposit in Emmett’s name now that he has a social security number and I’ll make a 20-year-certificate of deposit so we can set him up a little bit better for when he’s older.”
Morse and Butler also want to give back. Morse said about the money, “It also sets us up in a position to finally pay it forward, some of the kindness that was shown to us. It’s really a good feeling to be able to have been put in this position to maybe do some more good in the community too.”
And if there are any funds left from all of those plans, they can also put the money towards their wedding on October 14th.
As for a few of the other winners, they told Northern Michigan’s 9&10 News that some of them were going to save the money, some wanted to make home renovations and one person wanted to buy a Persian cat. Winner Michaela Coffia is planning a Disney vacation.
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