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The owner of a popular North Carolina seafood restaurant is celebrating a huge win after scoring a major lottery prize. Winning the lottery has always been a dream for Raleigh's Annette Brown, owner of A'Nets Katch in Knightsdale, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery.
"Every time when we drive by the lottery building I would say, 'We are going to get our picture taken there one day,'" she said. "It was on my bucket list."
After learning that a North Carolina man won $1 million with a lucky ticket, she was inspired to purchase her own $30 Millionaire Maker ticket from the Food Lion on U.S. 64 East. When she scratched the ticket to reveal the $100,000 prize, she thought her new contact lenses were causing her to read the ticket wrong. However, her eyes weren't playing tricks on her and she did in fact score the six-figure prize.
"I figured I must not be seeing it right," she said. "Reality still hasn't hit yet."
Brown claimed her prize at lottery headquarters on Friday (September 16), bringing home a total of $71,019 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. When asked what she plans to do with her new winnings, she told lottery officials she hopes to do something special for her employees.
"We always take care of our staff at the restaurant so we'll do something for them," she said.