Emporian wins $8,735 on lottery Keno ticket
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Shawn Ray purchased his first-ever Keno ticket Friday night in Emporia and soon learned that he’d won $8,735.
Sally A. Lunsford of the Kansas Lottery in Topeka said that Ray’s wife, Angela Ray, had purchased a few tickets during their nine-year marriage, but “Shawn Ray was apparently waiting until the time was right.”
Shawn Ray bought his winning ticket while playing cards at the Veterans of Foreign Wars club, 932 Graphic Arts Road.
He matched all seven numbers and the bull’s-eye on a seven-spot Keno ticket, which also qualified him to wiin a progressive jackpot bonus prize.
“I just randomly picked seven numbers,” he said. “The numbers seemed right at the time, and afterwards they seemed even more right!”
Angela Ray was watching the Keno monitor during the drawing, but had lost track of how many numbers her husband had matched.
“It wasn’t until she had a VFW employee check the ticket that she knew her husband had won more than $8,000,” Lunsford said.
Angela Ray put the ticket in her purse, and both kept a close watch on it until they could drive to Topeka to pick up their prize.
Shawn Ray works at Irsik & Doll Feed Service here. Angela Ray works at Kansa Technology. They have two children, ages 8 and 4.
“The Rays say Angela needs a new vehicle, so they may use some of their prize money for that,” Lunsford said.