It's a true Happy New Year for Tara and Jason Duhaime.
The Carlyle couple rang in the 2011 year with a $1 million LOTTO MAX win.
"It was in disbelief," says Tara Duhaime. "I must have read those number 25 times to make sure they matched, and I kept checking the date to make sure it was same date, then checked the numbers again."
Once Tara confirmed her numbers online - where she usually checks them - she phoned Jason at work to tell him the big news.
"He was in disbelief too. He thought maybe I had messed up the numbers to begin with," she laughed. "But I hadn't. I knew I hadn't at that point."
Tara buys a couple lotto tickets whenever she fuels her vehicle. It's just something she does, she says. As for Jason, he'll purchase a ticket whenever the jackpot exceeds $15. But this time around, Tara was the lucky purchaser. She bought the ticket at Â鶹ÊÓƵ Plains Carlyle C-Store - the same place a work colleague of Jason's bought a winning ticket in August.
"Jason thinks he's the lucky charm," says Duhaime.
So the million dollar question is, what will the newfound millionaires do with the winnings?
"Pay off our debt," says Duhaime. "We've paid off our house already. And, we'll set up some education funds for the kids."
The Duhaimes have a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son, who didn't quite know what to think of their parents' winnings.
"Hannah said to me right away, 'Well I guess I can get an education now,'" laughs Duhaime. "That was the first thing she said. Then Halen, he just said, 'Really, cool.' That was it."
"Hannah knows it's a lot, but for Halen, I don't think it really sunk in until we went to the press conference," continues Duhaime. "Then all of a sudden he's like, 'Can I get a Ski-Doo?'"
Jason and Tara don't have plans for any big purchases, but Tara says they are discussing the possibility of the Ski-Doo.
The Duhaimes received their winnings at the same time as 20-year-old Midale resident Conrad Keturakis received his $1 million. He had purchased a $20 LOTTO MAX ticket from an Esso Convenience Store in Weyburn, from which he won three Free Plays. One of those Free Plays just happened to win the young man a $1 million MAXMILLIONS prize on the Dec. 31 draw.
