A recent stop at the Stewart’s Shop in Meco for a coffee and a scratch-off ticket on his way home from grocery shopping made Michael Bennett of Johnstown $1 million richer. Bennett hit the jackpot after purchasing a $1,000,000 Make My Month scratch-off ticket from the Stewart’s at 1594 Route 29A. He returned to the shop on Wednesday to collect the prize money presented by New York Lottery’s Yolanda Vega.
“Millionaire coming through. We are ready to hand over a really big prize check to our newest lottery millionaire,” called out Vega congratulating and welcoming Bennett as a crowd of Stewart’s patrons looked on.
Bennett said he’s been scratching for 30 years and bought just one $5 ticket that fateful day. A busy line at the front of the shop led him to the rear line where another lottery player ahead of him bought a ticket for the same game on which he ultimately won.
“I asked for a $5 scratch-off and [the cashier] said ‘how about one of the new ones,’ so I said ‘OK,'” Bennett recounted.


Bennett took the ticket home where he helped his wife bring in the groceries before finally scratching away to find that he was a grand prize winner.
“This can’t be real,” he recalled thinking.
Bennett and his wife took the ticket to the Saratoga Casino Hotel to claim the prize, where they learned that they would instead have to take the jackpot winner to the claim center in Schenectady. Bennett signed the ticket and hid it in his dresser for the night before taking it to the claim center the following morning without calling any friends or relatives to report his good fortune for fear it wasn’t real.
“It was real,” Bennett said.
Bennett opted to receive the prize as a one-time lump sum payment totalling $631,492 after the required withholdings.




The 58-year-old semi-retired carpenter said he plans to continue working for at least a few more years and will set some of the money aside for when he fully retires. He also plans to use the winnings to pay off bills, buy a new car for his wife and a new truck for himself and take a trip to Disney World.
“I have a check here that’s going to help you with all those dreams, plans and then some,” said Vega.
He also plans to keep scratching, saying that he likes to play new games as they come out and most of his wins have come from tickets purchased at Stewart’s. While the Meco shop will not receive any bonus from New York Lottery for selling the grand prize scratch-off ticket, the shop referred to by Vega as the “luckiest store in town” is expected to see a boost in sales from locals hoping to become the next jackpot winner.