Port Alberni boasts of one of the winningest convenience stores in B.C. Lottery Corporation history.

Last week, the A-1 Convenience on Redford Street celebrated its five, million-dollar and multi-million-dollar winners as part of its 26-year anniversary.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 the luck of the draw,香蕉视频直播� said Jodi Rai, who opened the store in 1993 with his wife, Surinder. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 their luck and we are just the provider. We香蕉视频直播檙e really glad they won.香蕉视频直播�

Al and Helga Fry were the first million-dollar winners at A-1 Convenience, in 1996.

香蕉视频直播淚t was a random ticket,香蕉视频直播� Helga recalled.

Al bought the ticket. He remembers he was watching a football game on TV when he checked the numbers and realized they won $1 million. He put the ticket on their china cabinet, told Helga to take a look at it 香蕉视频直播渢hen I finished watching the football game,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淔or two weeks, the ticket sat there.香蕉视频直播�

When the couple finally went to Victoria to claim their prize, they stayed in a hotel that was as close to the lottery ticket office as they could get. It wasn香蕉视频直播檛 an expensive hotel, Helga said, and no one suspected they were big winners.

香蕉视频直播淲e sat in the hotel having breakfast with our picture on the front page [of a newspaper] and no one sitting around us knew who we were.香蕉视频直播�

They didn香蕉视频直播檛 do anything splashy with their money, but they helped their children.

Next was Rocky and Patti LaPlante, who bought a Celebration ticket on Jan. 16, 1997, and became the next instant millionaires. They wife ended up giving a lot of their winnings away.

In 1998, Otto Anker joined the A-1 Convenience millionaire club.

The fourth million-dollar win from the same convenience store came nearly a decade later.

Richard Zoet kept quiet about his win for a few days. It had come at the conclusion of a difficult period in his life: He had come out of bankruptcy a week earlier following a jail sentence and repayment to ICBC.

A regular lotto player in the past, Zoet bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket for the June 7, 2017 draw. 香蕉视频直播淲hen it showed online that the winner was from Port Alberni, I said that was my ticket. Then I checked it and it was a winning ticket. I just sat on it.香蕉视频直播�

Since then, he has bought new cars for himself and his mother, and made numerous donations to charities.

The latest new millionaires are Ian and Louise Thomas, who snagged $5 million on Feb. 13.

香蕉视频直播淚 bought the ticket, and I checked it,香蕉视频直播� Louise said. 香蕉视频直播淲e were up at the Smoke Stack, it香蕉视频直播檚 friends of ours that own it. We went up to say hi. I hadn香蕉视频直播檛 checked my ticket yet香蕉视频直播� she put the ticket in the machine and it seized up. She said 香蕉视频直播榃hat have you done to my machine?香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈��

香蕉视频直播淲e went into shock,香蕉视频直播� Ian said. 香蕉视频直播淭he girls behind the counter were screaming.香蕉视频直播�

Eventually, the Thomases want to travel, but Louise is still working right now. They will soon have family in Mississauga, Ont., and plan on making regular trips there.

香蕉视频直播淭o have this many winners that have won major prizes 香蕉视频直播� to all buy from one store, is pretty rare,香蕉视频直播� said BCLC territory manager Taylor Landry.

Everytime a big winner is announced at the store, Rai said he sees a spike in sales. Even people attending the anniversary celebration on Friday said they had bought tickets that day.

Most of the winners claim A-1 Convenience as their neighbourhood corner store, and all of them decided to stay in the neighbourhood despite their big wins. They all still buy lottery tickets too.

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