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Thanksgiving gravy train: Edmonton couple wins $30M on harvest holiday weekend

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Oct, 2014 11:22 AM
  • Thanksgiving gravy train: Edmonton couple wins $30M on harvest holiday weekend

ST. ALBERT, Alta. - An Edmonton couple had plenty to be thankful for on the Thanksgiving weekend after winning a lottery jackpot worth almost $31 million.

But Joan and Wade Lidkea (LIHD'-kee) didn't let on at the family dinner because they wanted to confirm the Oct. 10 winning Lotto Max numbers first.

The couple are the latest winners in an Alberta lucky lotto streak that has yielded 38 million-plus jackpots so far this year worth more than $172 million.

Joan was checking their tickets the morning after the draw and was down to the last set of numbers.

She realized she had them all right.

But Wade joked that she must be reading them wrong.

“He came into the room and took a look and said, ‘Yes, yes, you do have them all!’” she said as the couple was introduced Thursday.

“I wanted to throw up. And then we both started shaking.”

“I got sweaty hands and I didn’t know what to do,” Wade said.

The Lidkeas have played a certain set of numbers for years, but the winning ducat turned out to be a quick pick.

In July, three couples in Alberta claimed two Lotto 6-49 prizes of $7 million and $18 million and a Lotto Max jackpot of $50 million — all within one week.

The $50-million winners had won in December, but didn't come forward for seven months.

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