BY DON FASNACHT and BILL ENGLE
The Palladium-Item
RICHMOND, Ind. -- It was an extraordinary morning at the Speedway store on Richmond's west side Thursday, but the routine went on. Clerk Connie Morris cradled the phone with her shoulder, bantering with news people across the nation while she collected cash for gas, coffee and doughnuts.
The station became the epicenter for a lottery-crazed nation that learned the lone winning $295.7 million Powerball ticket was sold there.
Debbie Person, morning manager of the Speedway store, didn't know her life was about to be turned upside down until 7 a.m.
Richmond Police Capt. Jack Farmer stopped on his way home from the night shift to warn her that newspaper and television reporters were on their way from Cincinnati.
"Then I believed it," Ms. Person said. "A customer came in at about 6:30 and told me we had sold the winning ticket, but I thought he was just kidding."
Within moments after Capt. Farmer's confirmation, Ms. Morris was fielding a call from ABC in New York.
Before 8 a.m., she had chatted with stations in Florida, Detroit, Wisconsin, New York and Ohio.
By 9:15, three satellite television trucks from Dayton, Indianapolis and Cincinnati were parked outside the store in this town of 38,700 people.
At first, Ms. Person's interviews revealed her disbelief. Her disbelief faded as the calls flooded into the store.
Ms. Person called store manager Judy Seifert, who arrived from her Cambridge City home at the same time the first television satellite truck showed up just before 8 a.m.
"The cavalry is here," Ms. Person said as Ms. Seifert arrived.
Lucky store
Speedway manager Janeen Paxton said there was also a $100,000 winner -- the store's third.
The last one came in May, when Powerball set a record jackpot of almost $200 million.
"I don't know why we're so lucky. We were very busy this week, and that may be why. I've heard people say that they want to buy tickets here because we've had winners," Ms. Paxton said.
Powerball ticket sales had jumped dramatically during the past four days.
"I know we sold 14,000 one day," Ms. Person said. "We usually sell 2,000 or 3,000 a day."
The $100,000 prize in May was won by a group of 20 from Middletown, Ohio. The store, just a few hundred yards from the Ohio state line, has customers from all over, many representing groups that have sent a designated buyer.
While the excitement was building Thursday, Ms. Person and Ms. Morris were busy tending their regular customers and taking care of business.
Many of the customers weren't aware of what was going on at Speedway. "Was it mine?" Dawn Stevens asked when Ms. Morris told her the news as she stopped by for her usual morning soft drink.
"Hopefully, the next time."
Ms. Morris told one interviewer, "I'm just pleased we can be a part of something so nice for someone."
