THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON - A last-minute decision has led to a life of leisure for 13 lucky office workers from Edmonton who are sharing the third-largest prize pool in Canadian lottery history.
Eleven women and two men who work in payroll and technical services for ATB Financial were introduced at a swanky hotel on Friday as the winners of this week's $50-million Lotto 6-49 jackpot.
The colleagues, who work on the 13th floor of the government-owned bank's downtown office tower, arrived in two limousines for their moment in the spotlight.
Claps and cheers erupted when each of their names was called as they entered one of the hotel's balloon-festooned ballrooms in single file.
Patricia Podridske explained how she only decided to buy tickets the day of the draw when she saw how high the jackpot was. She asked her co-workers if anyone was interested and 12 others threw in $2 each.
Five of them spent a sleepless night Wednesday after telephoning back and forth to ascertain they had won.
One woman said it took her co-worker 15 minutes to convince her they had hit it big. And it still wasn't quite real for her Friday.
"I have no immediate plans except to buy a house, take care of my family, take care of my kids, and just sit back for six months and think about what I'm going to do," she said.
Podridske said the whole experience has been overwhelming for all of them.
"But we're very excited and, actually, we're very thankful as well."
Her immediate plans for her $3.8-million portion include dealing with the very bank where she works - but in a different capacity.
"I'll just open up another bank account at ATB Financial at the branch where my daughter works," Podridske said. "I'm sure the branch manager will be very happy to see me over there."
The new multi-millionaire said she, too, will take some time to decide what to do with her fortune.
"I think it's a big decision and it's going to be tough to really figure out what's what - but it'll be fun doing it."
Most voiced the usual intentions of sharing their money with friends and family. Plans include helping a daughter pay her tuition debts, world travel and a honeymoon in Paris for one of the lucky winners.
But although their dreams haven't all been worked out, the lucky ones agreed on one thing Friday.
They all showed up for work.
