As a rule, I don't usually think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Lucky for you, my rule isn't the rule of the Ohio Lottery where we are getting into the holiday spirit now! 

First, a holiday reality check. Did you know there are only 61 days until Christmas? If you're making your list, here are a few items you might want to add for stocking stuffers.

Starting Sunday, October 30, you can purchase our EZPLAY GAMES Santa's Snowball, Holiday Match Doubler and Stocking Stuffer!

Santa's Snowball is a $1 ticket with a top prize of $1,000! You can win up to $5,000 with the $1 Holiday Match Doubler and up to $20,000 with $2 Stocking Stuffer ticket!

Our EZPLAY games are just that, easy! And they're an easy way to stuff stockings, possibly with lots of cash!

Monday was a lucky day for a few Ohio Lottery players. The Classic Lotto jackpot had reached $50.4 million! And Monday night, someone hit that jackpot! The winning Classic Lotto ticket, sold at Monk's Cove in Cincinnati, had the numbers 7-11-13-14-23-42. The winner used the auto pick. Monk's Cove owner Tom Nurre was excited to hear his store had such a big win. “Wow! That’s exciting! I think the biggest winner we’ve ever had was $400 on Keno, so this is great!” Nurre said. Two lucky Ohio Lottery players will split the Rolling Cash 5 jackpot. The winning numbers in Monday's drawing were 3-4-7-12-30. Not a bad way to start the week, heh?  

We wanted to send out a big congratulations to Tom Bogus, a member of the Marketing/Communication staff, for being named the Ohio Lottery Commission Employee of the Month. Tom worked tirelessly on a new orientation video for the OLC. He set up the interviews, shot the video and edited the half hour long video that is used for new employee orientations. Tom is always willing to help wherever he can, and we appreciate that We're happy to have you as part of the team, Tom!

[caption id="attachment_1094" align="alignright" width="300"] The edges of this frisbee are all chewed up, but it's still Bethanne's favorite toy![/caption] Who doesn't love a cute puppy picture? This one came to us about five years ago from one of our Ohio Lottery fans, so we though we'd bring it back out to give you a little smile on this rainy Throwback Thursday. At the time this photo was sent, Bethanne was just a pup staying with her foster mom. She's a service dog for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Her foster mom Jaya in Westlake, Ohio sent us this photo of what was at the time Bethanne's favorite chew toy, a Ohio Lottery frisbee Jaya got at the Asian Festival in Cleveland. Jaya said the frisbee was Bethanne's favorite. Bethanne stayed with Jaya until she was 15 months old and she went to New York for her formal guide dog training. Wondering where you can find some Ohio Lottery swag? We're gearing up for the summer promotional season with stops at the Ohio State Fair, Ohio Bike Week and major league baseball games to name a few. Keep an eye on our webpage to see where you can find us! https://www.ohiolottery.com/Promotions/Promotions-Events        

It feels good to be able to give back, and every year State of Ohio employees do just that by donating to the Combined Charitable Campaign. What's that, you ask? There are 16 federations and more than 2,000 charities that help those that are ill, less fortunate or simply to build a better place for all of us to live, and state employees can choose an organization or organizations to contribute to every year. Over the past 10 years, State of Ohio employees have donated $48,905,132 to the Combined Charitable Campaign. Last year, State of Ohio employees donated more than $4,000,000, and Ohio Lottery employees are some of the most generous employees across the State of Ohio. This year the Ohio Lottery Commission raised more than $38,300 surpassing our goal of $34,300!  Thank you OLC employees for doing your part to help others.

 I love surprises! Don't you? Sue Eakle of Xenia, Ohio got a big surprise when her name was called as a contestant on Cash Explosion, especially since she didn’t even know that she had a ticket in the drawing.  Sue's husband bought the ticket and put her name on it and sent it in without telling her.  What can you do with the winnings? Jean Manuel of Columbus, Ohio already knows  some of his winnings from the championship game will go to help the people of his native country, Haiti. Jean is the head of the Haitian Coalition.   You can watch Sue and Jean rake in the cash on the October 22 airing of Cash Explosion! http://www.cashexplosionshow.com/home/

You know what its like when you're competing with family. If you want bragging rights, you'd better win! Mike Berkheimer of Hamilton now has one up on his father-in-law. The two were in a race to see who would get on the Cash Explosion® show first, and Mike won. His father-in-law isn't giving up, though. When Mike recently scratched off an Entry ticket his father-in-law said, "Give me that" and sent it in! Lendell Abrams of Shaker Heights wasn't camera-shy when it came to the show taping. He's been on TV before! He auditioned for and got a part in a Dandee potato chip commercial as a child! He even posed behind the podium before he went on to win!  Find out how much Lendell and Mike won on the October 15 airing of Cash Explosion! http://www.cashexplosionshow.com/home/

Have you ever heard of a woollybear? It's not a bear at all. It's a caterpillar with a brown section of bristly hair in the middle bookended by bristly black hair on each end. According to folklore, a narrower brown band indicates a more severe winter. This Sunday people will celebrate the tiny creature at the 39th annual Woollybear Festival in Vermilion, Ohio, and the Ohio Lottery will be there! We invite Lottery players to stop by our video and photo booth from 11 to 4 to tell their winning stories! Everyone who records a video gets a prize! You can also play our Spin & Win for a chance at a prize! Lottery tickets will be easy to find at our Lottery trailer. I'm not sure what the woollybear's coat is predicting for our winter, but so far the forecast for Sunday looks good! Come visit us at the Ohio Lottery booth at the 39th Annual Woollybear Festival!

Patricia Herrick spends her days making others feel good. The Mansfield woman is a hairdresser. On October 3rd, the Ohio Lottery got the chance to give Patricia something to smile about. Patricia won the $200,000 Cash Blast Top Prize Drawing! [caption id="attachment_1064" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Patricia won $200,000 in the Cash Blast Top Prize Drawing!"][/caption] She was at work when she got the call  that she had won $200,000 and Patricia says she couldn't believe it. Some of her clients couldn't believe it either. Patricia said clients kept asking, "Are you sure you're not going to up and quit in the middle of my appointment?" She stayed at work, only taking a quick break to call her husband and share the good news. The grandmother of 9 says claiming her prize made it feel more real. She said her 4-year-old granddaughter asked last week if she could see the money. She will see some of it, as Patricia plans to help her children and grandchildren financially. Patricia and her husband have talked about a few home improvements in the last few years, and she says they will finally get them done thanks to her win. Patricia bought the ticket at J and J Food Mart in Mansfield. She knew the odds of winning the top prize drawing were good, but she didn't think she would be that lucky. I'm not sure why because Patricia was lucky enough to be drawn for the Cash Explosion show in 2003. She won $7,200 back then!  Learn more about the Ohio Lottery's Top Prize Drawings here! http://www.ohiolottery.com/Promotions/Top-Prize-Drawing-(TPD)