It was a dream come true for Dwight Whiteford and his group when he received a call on Monday, Dec. 21 that they had won the Maxmillions prize of one million in the Dec. 14 draw.
"I actually got the call at work and was pretty excited, so I called in Karsten, who helped me this year with the subscription and told him that we had won one million," said Whiteford. "Then we called the group into the conference room and told them the news and everyone was excited and high fiving each other."
According to Whiteford, most people in the group work up north in the oil sands, living all over Alberta and BC.
"And we are mostly trades guys, electricians, instrument techs, millwrights, pipefitters and such, so it was pretty cool to win it, just like the commercials on television," added Whiteford.
Whiteford started the subscription about three years ago in 2013 with 34 guys, himself included.
"I wanted to do a group thing where we could share in the glory if we ever won," said Whiteford. "We pay equal share for the subscription and this is our first big win as a group."
With so many people in the group, the paperwork took a little longer, but finally on Thursday, Jan. 28 most of the guys met at the Western Canada Lottery Corporation building in Stettler to collect their cheque of $29,411 approximately.
"We are all affected by the economy right now so it was great that we won this money and winning it as a group makes it that more special," added Whiteford. "I think getting everyone's money when we renew the subscription again will be a lot easier this time around."