Green Camp Pit Stop in Marion County sells winning Classic Lotto ticket

Andrew Carter, Marion Star
·3 min read
Green Camp Pit Stop owner and operator Crystal Howard, far left, and her employees are excited that the store recently sold a winning Ohio Lottery Classic Lotto ticket worth $1.3 million. Shown with Howard are employees Lija Bowers, Lynn Smith, and Debbie Howard. Green Camp Pit Stop will receive a $1,000 sale bonus from the Ohio Lottery for being the location of the sale of the winning ticket.

The Green Camp Pit Stop was buzzing with excitement Monday after its owner learned that someone had recently purchased a winning Ohio Lottery Classic Lotto ticket worth $1.3 million at the shop.

Crystal Howard, who's owned and operated the Green Camp Pit Stop for the past six years, said she didn't find out her store had even sold a winning ticket until the Marion Star contacted her for comment on Monday morning.

"I called the (Ohio Lottery) after (the Star) called because they hadn't contacted me yet," said Howard. "They said the winner hasn't claimed it, so they don't who won it yet. We really hope it's one of our local patrons that comes in here and consistently buys lottery tickets from us. We want to know who it is. This is just really exciting. The whole town is excited. The owner of Berwick Pizza came over and congratulated us."

According to a press release issued by the Ohio Lottery on Monday, "Ohio’s Classic Lotto jackpot is on a tear after a ticket matched all six numbers drawn in Saturday’s $1.3 million Classic Lotto jackpot drawing. ... It is the fourth Classic Lotto jackpot prize sold over the past two months."

Ohio Lottery officials said the winning numbers were 5-6-21-24-44-46 and the kicker was 2-0-1-0-3-7.

A winning Ohio Lottery Classic Lotto ticket was sold at the Green Camp Pit Stop, located at 201 Marion St. in Green Camp. The ticket is worth $1.3 million.
A winning Ohio Lottery Classic Lotto ticket was sold at the Green Camp Pit Stop, located at 201 Marion St. in Green Camp. The ticket is worth $1.3 million.

Lottery officials explained that "the $1.3 million prize is an annuity, offering a payment stream of approximately $43,333 a year for 30 years before taxes. The winning ticket holder used the game’s auto-lotto feature to choose the winning numbers and has 180 days from the draw date to claim the prize. ... Odds of winning the Classic Lotto jackpot are 1 in 13.98 million."

Green Camp Pit Stop, located at 201 Marion Street in Green Camp, receives a $1,000 sales bonus. Howard said she plans to reward her staff for their hard work by sharing the sales bonus with them.

The previous Classic Lotto jackpot prize was sold just 10 days prior to this drawing at Don’s Grocery in Darrtown. That ticket is also unclaimed. This is Ohio’s 28th Classic Lotto jackpot prize since the game began Jan. 21, 2007.

Howard said sales of Ohio Lottery tickets do quite well at the Green Camp Pit Stop.

"We sell quite a bit," Howard said. "We've got a lot of people that like to gamble."

The Green Camp Pit Stop, located at 201 Marion St. in the village of Green Camp, is owned and operated by Crystal Howard. She employs six people at the store. Howard has owned and operated the business for six years.
The Green Camp Pit Stop, located at 201 Marion St. in the village of Green Camp, is owned and operated by Crystal Howard. She employs six people at the store. Howard has owned and operated the business for six years.

Howard said her business receives a total of about 6% in proceeds from the Ohio Lottery from the sale of tickets and cashing out winning tickets at the store.

Employees of the Green Camp Pit Stop were equally as excited about the sale of the winning ticket, Howard said.

"My employees are like my family," she explained. "They're all really excited about the news."

Howard said she has six employees. They include Howard's daughters Nicki Howard and Trinity Prater, as well as Lynn Smith, Debbie Howard, Lija Bowers, Shelly Simpson, and Lynn Holstein.

Howard said she purchased the building that houses the Green Camp Pit Stop six years ago. Prior to Howard taking ownership of the facility, it had been empty for many years. She said the local business owners in the village have good relationships with each other and they support many activities in the community.

"All of the businesses in Green Camp work together to try to bring new business into town," Howard said. "We also support the ballfield for the kids. We donate as much as we can to Elgin (Local School District). Any benefits at all that we can help out with, we're always happy to do anything that we can do."

According to agency officials, the Ohio Lottery has contributed more than $30 billion to education since 1974. For more information about the Ohio Lottery and its contribution to education, visit www.ohiolottery.com/supportingeducation.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Green Camp Pit Stop in Marion Co. sells winning Classic Lotto ticket