Paradise woman wins big in lottery

Jamie Doran

Valley Press

A Paradise woman is $5,002 richer after claiming a Wild Card prize in the Jan. 7 drawing of the Montana Lottery.

Lee Anne Overman was ecstatic after finding out she won. She said she is a regular Powerball and Wild Card player, but that she had never won an amount of money like this before.

Overman worked for the Pair-A-Dice Bar in Paradise when it burned down, leaving her without work for the past three months.

“It has been really difficult being without work for the past three months,” she said. “This money will definitely help me out a lot over the next few months while I try to find new work.”

Overman brought her friends Michelle Hayder and Sherie Neal when she went and picked up her super-sized check.

“They’re my best friends and have been with me through a lot,” she said. “So it definitely made sense to have them here with me while I collected on this.”

The winning ticket came from the Plains Town Pump and Overman said that she plans on continuing to play in the future and hopes that maybe her luck will even be greater next time.

“Next time I plan on winning Powerball,” she said with a laugh.

Overman usually plays Powerball and Wild Card and said that even though she won a substantial sum of money there is also more money out there for her to win.

“The odds might not be in my favor to win again, but somebody has to, so why not have it be me again,” she said.

The Montana Lottery was created by referendum in 1986. In the past 22 years it has paid out over $332 million to players in prizes and returned more than $152 to the State of Montana.