Newest millionaires in B.C.

A White Rock woman and a couple from Quesnel are the latest British Columbia winners of significant lottery prizes.

Geraldine Ettinger of White Rock said she feels “blessed and grateful” to have won $5 million in the Classic Jackpot from the Dec. 2 Lotto 6/49 draw.

Ettinger was most excited to share the news with her husband and they celebrated together with a champagne toast.

She plans to take some time to think through her bucket-list items — though she is looking forward to splurging more than she used to when it comes to travel.

Meantime, a Quesnel couple picked up a cheque for $2 million after matching six out of six numbers for the BC/49 draw on Jan. 4.

Bruce Carter and Emiliana Kaftan said they plan to celebrate over some takeout fried chicken with Carter’s mother and look forward to a big fishing trip very soon.

Emiliana Kaftan and Bruce Carter of Quesnel won $2 million in a BC/49 draw. (Photo credit: BCLC)

The Cariboo residents discovered the news of their win the morning of Jan. 5 after seeing online that someone from Quesnel won the jackpot.

“I had my ticket beside the computer and started comparing my numbers to the winning ones and said, ’OK, something’s goofy here because these numbers are the same!’” Carter explained.

Carter then scanned the ticket on BCLC’s Lotto! App to ensure he was seeing things correctly before calling Kaftan over to tell her the news.

“She signed the ticket so fast and started hopping around,” Carter said with a chuckle. “At one point I asked her to pinch me to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.”

Kaftan couldn’t believe the news.

“My heart was beating and I started shaking with excitement,” she said.

(With files from The Canadian Press, CKPG)