<snip>
MILWAUKIE A 60-year-old Milwaukie-area man who lost retirement money in the collapse of Enron stepped forward Monday to claim a $182.7 million Powerball jackpot.
Dan Gannon and his wife, Candy, avoided media all day, then quietly celebrated with friends and family while the giant ceremonial lottery check sat on the mantel of their white, split-level home.
In an interview with The Oregonian, the couple said they plan to take it slow. They might buy a boat and a new rig to tow it, said Candy Gannon. They might visit family scattered across the country, from San Diego to New York. And there could be a sunny retreat in the Gannons' future.
"I'd like to go where it's warm and dry when it's cold and wet here," Dan Gannon said. "A condo down south . . . wouldn't be so bad."
He mused a bit more. "I'll probably end up with a little bit of a farm," he said, adding that he enjoys animal husbandry, owns a goose egg incubator and plants edible crops -- from boysenberries to rhubarb and tomatoes -- in his yard.
Bill Voeller, a next-door neighbor, arrived with champagne. "Congratulations, old man," Voeller said, hoisting a glass. "This is a pretty big fish this time."
"Ya think?" Gannon said.
Voeller owns an 18-foot Starcraft, and he and Gannon often troll the Willamette for salmon together. "Dan's an old-time fisherman from years and years ago, so I get to learn from the master," Bill Voeller said.
Voeller's wife, Gloria, and the Gannons' other next-door neighbors had purchased Powerball tickets for the drawing that Gannon won.
Dan Gannon, a 35-year employee at Portland General Electric, said he and his wife were driving to dinner Friday night when they stopped at a Safeway store on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard and spent $5 on Powerball tickets, allowing the lottery machine to pick his numbers at random.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1174370107102600.xml&coll=7
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
