A retired Oneonta postal worker won $35,400 in Sunday's New York state Lottery Take Five drawing, according to the New York Lottery.
He shared the prize with a person from Schuylerville.
Charles Bollinger, 72, said he "didn't waste any time" in claiming his prize Monday. He said he woke his wife, Carol, after learning that morning that he won. The two left for the lottery's Schenectady office after about an hour to collect the prize, he said.
Bollinger works as a school crossing guard at Center Street Elementary School.
"I hate to do this, but I just won $35,000," said his wife, Carol Bollinger, recalling how he woke her that morning.
She is a food-service worker at State University College at Oneonta and a recent chairwoman of the city of Oneonta Republican Party.
"I didn't believe him at first," she said, but she soon realized he wasn't kidding around, especially after she went to the computer to check the numbers.
She said that after taxes, the winnings were about $23,000.
He chose the numbers, 7-17-20-22-37, based on his birthday, that of his wife and the age of one of his granddaughters, he said.
Bollinger, who retired from the Oneonta post office in 1992, said he had been playing the same numbers at Palace Cigar in Oneonta every day for at least 15 years, and that won't change.
This is the first time he has won a large sum of money in the game, which allows players to choose five numbers from 1 to 39 for $1.
He said he won $2,500 from a scratch-off lottery ticket in 1998 and used that money for his first computer, he said.
He hasn't made any spending plans, but his two children and five grandchildren have been calling him and "being very nice to me," he said with a laugh. "Maybe we will pay a few bills."
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Mark Boshnack can be reached at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000, ext. 218, or at mboshnack@thedailystar.com.
