GLADSTONE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Two members of a Delta County lottery club are richer after a big Michigan Lottery win.
Wally’s Club is made up of friends Jennifer Boulley-Wicklund and Tom Derusha. Boulley-Wicklund is the head bartender at Wally’s Bar, and Derusha is a regular patron.
Boulley-Wicklund, Derusha, and Derusha’s girlfriend Mary each bought a Fast Cash ticket one night. Boulley-Wicklund took her ticket home without checking to see if she’d won.
The next morning, her boss called to say someone had purchased a winning ticket the night before. She then realized she’d won $1.41 million.
“I feel like it hasn’t really hit me still,” she said. “But it’s beautiful; I just know that my daughters will be okay.”
The friends say they will split the winnings. They are already making plans for how to spend the money.
“However I want!” said Boulley-Wicklund. “Travel with Tom and Mary and my husband, of course. Nothing crazy.”
“We’ll go to Green Bay, spend the weekend, and maybe treat ourselves and go to a restaurant with cloth napkins,” Derusha laughed.
Derusha says they have no plans to stop playing the Michigan Lottery. In fact, he won $2,500 at a casino on the way home from picking up their prize money.
“I was lucky enough that it paid for the trip!” he said.
Wally’s Club says they were already lucky before winning the lottery thanks to their friendship, as well as the home they have found at Wally’s Bar.
“Wally’s is a wonderful atmosphere with fantastic people,” Derusha said. “I’ve met a lot of good friends here. It’s a very cool, fun place.”
“Everybody that walks through the door is family,” said Boulley-Wicklund. “And we never would have met if it wasn’t for this place.”
