ATLANTA - A Georgia iron worker and his wife are instant multimillionaires after claiming their $275 million Mega Millions prize.<br />
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Robert and Tonya Harris of Portal, a tiny town about 70 miles west of the Georgia coast, submitted their winning ticket to lottery officials Monday afternoon. The 47-year-old Harris said he picked the winning numbers from Friday's multistate drawing - 7, 12, 13, 19 and 22, plus the Mega Ball number 10 - by using his grandchildren's birthdays.<br />
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"It's awesome," Robert Harris told a room full of reporters after receiving the ceremonial big check from lottery officials. "We have been very blessed."<br />
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The couple, who live in a trailer, plan to build a house outside of Portal. They said they haven't thought much about what to do with the money, aside from buying a new four-wheel-drive truck first thing Tuesday morning.<br />
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They also want to send their grandchildren to college and give some money to other relatives, Tonya Harris said.<br />
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"We're not gonna change," she said, wearing warmup pants and flip-flops. "I'm too country."<br />
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It's the largest jackpot won by a single player in the history of the 15-year-old Georgia Lottery and the third largest in Mega Millions history, lottery officials said.<br />
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The money means the Harrises won't have to live paycheck to paycheck any more, they said.<br />
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"I was having to work overtime to make ends meet," Robert Harris said. "Now we don't have to do that."<br />
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Robert Harris quit his job as soon as he found out his lottery ticket was a winner. He says he's looking forward to not having to work after 20 years of doing iron work on construction sites.<br />
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"It's very easy to walk away," he said.<br />
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The couple spent Sunday night at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta's tony Buckhead neighborhood before arriving at the lottery headquarters in downtown to claim their prize.<br />
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Lottery officials say the couple decided to take the lump sum, which is $167 million before taxes. They could have chosen an annuity of $10.5 million a year for 26 years.<br />
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They bought the winning ticket at Clyde's Market in Portal, a town of about 600. Robert Harris said the couple plays the lottery "very seldom, but something just entered my mind" to play.<br />
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He had his wife buy two $1 tickets while she was grocery shopping.<br />
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Billy Hodges, general manager of Clyde's Market, said the news of the jackpot on Saturday morning set the town abuzz.<br />
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"It happened to a nice lady; I think this lady really deserves it," Hodges said.<br />
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A year ago, Ed Nabors from Rocky Face, Ga., won half of a $390 million jackpot - the richest lottery prize in U.S. history. The other half was claimed by Elaine and Harold Messner, a couple from Cape May County in New Jersey.<br />
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Mega Millions tickets are sold in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington state. The twice-weekly drawing is done in Atlanta.<br />
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On the Net:<br />
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Mega Millions: http://www.megamillions.com <br />
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Georgia Lottery: http://www.galottery.com
