Kelowna

When Canada's first national lottery prize was drawn April 15, 1974, the grand prize was the world's largest ever lottery pay out worth a life altering $1,000,000.

Photo: Contributed - BCLC

Mike Urban is ready to head back to work after hitting the jackpot last Friday.

How times have changed.

Last Friday, July 6, the LottoMax prize was worth 50 times more, and the national lottery was also able to award an additional 17 $1,000,000 prizes.

Of those extra prizes, one was sold in West Kelowna at the Shannon Lake Convenience store, and while winning a million dollars will definitely change Mike Urban's life, he also plans to go back to work.

"It's pretty crazy," says Urban who lives and runs his own business in Kelowna. And apparently, all that hard work pays off.

The owner of Urban Distilleries was actually too busy to get out of the office and buy a ticket last week, so he convinced his sister, Dawn, to grab one for him on her way into Kelowna.

After hearing that the winning ticket was sold in Westbank, he sat down and checked his numbers on-line.

"It was disbelief. I read the numbers and looked at them, it must have been 15 or 20 times."

Still not convinced, Urban then headed over to Knox Mountain Market to get it confirmed at their lottery terminal. The same Knox Mountain store which sold Jacqueline Davenport a $1.5 million scratch and win ticket last April.

Photo: Contributed - Mark Urban

"It came up with 'Congratulations, million dollar winner,' bells and whistles were going, it was quite the show," says Urban.

But the win does not mean that Urban will be retiring anytime soon.

"I'll probably be back at work this afternoon. I've already been in Kamloops for two days so it's time to get back to work."

As for all that cash, Urban says he expects it won't change his life dramatically. In fact, aside from rewarding his sister with a share of the winnings and taking a holiday in the fall, it will be business as usual for him at the distillery.

"I'm going to park most of it and wait until it sinks in. It's still a little blurry and vague right now, so I just want to do it right and invest it properly."

Overall, the July 6 jackpot was the biggest in Canadian history, with a $100 million prize pool available to be won.

There were four major prizes won in BC that day. Two $500,000 prizes have already been awarded, but a $369,267 winning ticket, sold in Cranbrook, remains unclaimed.