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SCHENECTADY — Smiling and looking a little shocked, $5 million lottery winner Michael Vice of Ticonderoga claimed his prize during a ceremony Tuesday at lottery headquarters here.
Vice, a 46-year-old self-employed contractor, bought a $10 Set For Life ticket and a cup of coffee at Ticonderoga Citgo on Feb. 22.
While riding home with girlfriend Heather Johns, he scratched the ticket in the car and saw that he'd won $5 million.
"I didn't believe it at first. I asked Heather to pull over. She looked at it and said, 'You won.'"
He said he rarely buys the $10 tickets but decided to treat himself that day.
"It feels pretty good. It's had to sink in. I guess I'm going to pay my bills, get everything in the black and get a new truck."
He said he may also buy a house and take a vacation.
"I think I'd like to take the family someplace warm."
Vice was so excited after he discovered his win that he drove to lottery headquarters in Schenectady at 6 a.m. the next day.
"I asked (lottery officials), 'Is it real?' They stamped it. They said, 'It's real.'"
Vice is the first Essex County resident to win $5 million in the lottery since it began.
The county has had two previous $1 million winners: Jonathan Donaldson of Bloomingdale in 2005 and Darlene Slattery of Mineville in 1996.
The Set For Life ticket will pay Vice 20 annual installments of $260,000 each before taxes, $171,670 after taxes, to reach the guaranteed $5 million mark.
After that, he'll get another $171,670 a year as long as he lives.
And, Vice said, based on his family history, that could be for a long time.
"My grandmother is still living, and she's 96. I guess I am going to have to start living a little more healthier."
Vice was recently clerk of the works for the Ticonderoga Black Watch Memorial Library expansion project.
He said that despite winning the lottery prize, he still plans to keep working as a general contractor. But he will cut back on his hours.
"It's not like I don't have to work or anything, but it gives me a lot more options in life."
E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com
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