Winner is fifth Lottery millionaire from Onondaga County in past two months
FAYETTEVILLE, NY (08/25/2010)(readMedia)– The New York Lottery today introduced 77-year-old Albert “Al” Nanni of Fayetteville as a top prize winner of the Emerald 8s scratch-off game. The Lottery’s Gretchen Dizer presented Nanni with his over-sized check at the Wegmans where he purchased his $1 million winner.
Nanni became the fifth Lottery millionaire from Onondaga County since June and has more in common with some of the previous winners than just a bigger bank account.
“I retired from New Process Gear back when it was still New Process Venture,” he said. On June 22 three co-workers from New Process Gear hit a $26 million Mega Millions jackpot.
Nanni bought his $1 million winner on Aug. 6 at Wegmans on East Genesee Street in Fayetteville. He claimed his prize the same day at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Syracuse. As with most Lottery instant games, the $1 million prize on the Emerald 8s game is paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years. Nanni will receive an annual net check totaling $33,015 through 2029.
“I go to Wegmans every day to shop and play my daily numbers. I have won a few smaller prizes on the Emerald 8s tickets in the past so I decided to pick up another one and see if I could win again. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the word jackpot,” said Nanni.
Onondaga County’s newest millionaire says he plans to share his winnings with his family.
“My son is very dear to me. He is my ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ so I will certainly share my good fortune with him. Other than that I have no idea how I’ll spend the money. It’s all still sinking in,” he said.
