Two residents in the southside have won big playing the Virginia Lottery recently.

When Scott Seamster won $250,000 in the Virginia Lottery’s Gold Bar 7s scratcher game, he took it all in stride.

The Ringgold man won the game’s top prize with a ticket he bought at Kentuck Grocery, located at 6229 Kentuck Road in Ringgold.

Gold Bar 7s is one of dozens of scratcher games available from the Virginia Lottery. It features prizes ranging from $10 up to $250,000. This is the first top prize claimed in this game, which means two more remain unclaimed.

The chances of winning that top prize are 1 in 1,224,000. The chances of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 3.71.

Brenda Moorefield stared at the Virginia Lottery ticket she had just scratched.

“I didn’t know what to do! I was just in shock!” she later told Virginia Lottery officials.

The Henry County woman had just discovered that the Crossword Connect 5X ticket in her hand had won the game’s $100,000 top prize. It happened at Old Country Store, located at 18241 A. L. Philpott Highway in Ridgeway.

Finally, Ms. Moorefield showed the ticket to the cashier.

“Her mouth just flew open. She couldn’t believe it!” Ms. Moorefield recalled.

Crossword Connect 5X is one of dozens of scratcher games available from the Virginia Lottery. It features prizes ranging from $5 up to the $100,000 top prize. This is the fourth top prize claimed, which means two more remain unclaimed.

The chances of winning that top prize are 1 in 1,224,000. The chances of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 3.83.

All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia. Ms. Moorefield lives in Henry County, which received nearly $9.4 million in Lottery funds for K-12 education last fiscal year. In Fiscal Year 2022, the Lottery raised more than $779 million for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget.