Philippi And Red House Residents End 2009 With Lottery Prizes

John Butcher of Philippi and Tony Rumberg of Red House both ended 2009 with unexpected cash, according to WV Lottery Director John Musgrave.

Butcher won $25,000 from the Cash25 drawing held December 14, while Rumberg won a $30,000 Powerball prize on Dec. 5 from a PowerPlay ticket that tripled his prize.

Married and the father of a 15-year old daughter, Butcher said being unemployed brought all new appreciation for having unexpected cash in your pocket. “It’s helped us pay a lot of bills.”

Butcher said he spent $5 on five tickets from the Smokehouse in Philippi. “I won the top prize on one, and $10 on another.”

Rumberg said he bought two Powerball tickets from Go Mart in Ripley and decided to pay a dollar extra on each of them for the PowerPlay multiplier option. “At first I thought I had won $10,000 for matching four numbers plus the Powerball, but then remembered I’d bought PowerPlay, which tripled my excitement.”

Since the PowerPlay number drawn was a three, Rumberg’s prize automatically jumped to $30,000.