Patricia Fairris of Lemay enjoys playing Scratchers tickets and usually sticks to the $1 and $2 games.

While shopping at her local Dierbergs, located at 2516 Lemay Ferry Road in South County, Fairris’ eyes were drawn to the Missouri Lottery’s $3 “Jingle Bell Tripler” Scratchers ticket.

Fairris changed her routine and purchased a couple of the $3 tickets, uncovering a $50,003 top prize in the process.

“Believe it or not, I have never bought a $3 ticket,” Fairris shared. “I can’t tell you how in shock I was. I even called my granddaughter to check it for me. She said, ‘Grandma, you just won $50,000!’”

In FY20, players in St. Louis County – where the winning ticket was sold – won more than $179 million in Missouri Lottery prizes, retailers received more than $17 million in commissions and bonuses, and more than $29 million in Lottery proceeds went to education programs in the county.

Fairris joins a slate of other South County lottery winners this year, including a $100,000 ticket sold at the Sunset Hills Petro Mart, a $100,000 for a ticket at the Circle K on Tesson Ferry Road in Affton, a $100,000 winner from Oakville, an Affton woman who won on April Fool’s Day, and a lucky Lemay couple that won $2 million just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Another woman won $50,000 with a ticket from the Green Park Schnucks in February.