Ephrata's McCullars win $190 million

OLYMPIA - Ephrata residents Jim and Carolyn McCullar are the winners of the $190 million Mega Millions lottery prize. 

Announced during a press conference at the Washington Lottery headquarters in Olympia Thursday, the couple and their children Heather, Les, Jason and Cheryl, were presented with a check for $190 million.

Jim McCullar then promptly handed over the oversized check to Carolyn.

"We've been married 41 years," he said, "I know what to do with this check."

The McCullars say they played family birth dates as their lucky numbers. The winning numbers were 4, 8, 15, 25 and 47, with the Mega ball number of 42.

"We first used the numbers playing the Oregon Lottery and won $18,000. This time, Carolyn said we should go back to using our lucky numbers. So we did, and here we are!"

Jim McCullar described the win as one of the three times he's been lucky in his life. Jim says he includes meeting his wife as one of the other lucky times.  

Jim McCullar, a retired Boeing employee, bought his ticket at the Safeway in Ephrata.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and started watching Stephanie Vigil on KHQ news channel. She said the numbers, and it felt like she was talking to me directly," Jim said. "I took my heart medication so I wouldn't have a heart attack. Then I woke up my wife and had her come check the numbers with me to make sure. We called all of our kids and none of them believed us. I had to take a picture of the ticket next to the computer screen to prove it."

Jim McCullar said the couple will use the money to provide financial security for future generations of the McCullars and will not "blow it."

"At the time, we thought it was $355 million," Jim McCullar told reporters of the moment the couple learned of the results. "Oh well. I think $190 million is pretty good for an ol' Mississippi boy."

Back in Ephrata, residents are excited to welcome the McCullars home.

"They seem like a really nice, deserving couple," says Ephrata Mayor Chris Jacobson. "I think I've seen her (Carolyn) shopping in Safeway before but that's about it. I think it'll be an exciting time for him and the family. For the community I think it's given us a nice diversion from the holiday blues." 

The McCullar children say their parents won because they've always paid it forward even when they couldn't afford it, reports the Associated Press.

Jim and Carolyn say they are excited to "pay it forward even more."

The other winning ticket sold in Post Falls, Idaho, still had not been turned in as of Thursday afternoon.