BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Cynthia Sawyer got a surprise while playing her Idaho Lottery $100,000 Big Winner Scratch GameTM from Barney's Harvest Food in Pinehurst last Saturday while shopping for her weekly groceries.

"I scratched it as I went around the store doing my shopping," confessed Sawyer, a life-long resident of the Silver Valley. "I thought I'd only won $100 and kept thinking, well, Barney's is buying me groceries today. Then I stopped to clean up the ticket a bit before I got to check out. When I did, I kept scratching and I saw all the extra zeroes!"

Sawyer, an insurance agent from Kingston, Idaho, became the $100,000 Big Winner's biggest winner by winning the game's top prize of $100,000. This was the game's first top prize. One more is still available.

News around the area spread pretty quickly, so much so that when she returned home from the store, she already had a message from one of her friends.

"The store called a friend of mine to check on me because they were concerned I was driving home," explained Sawyer. "I was pretty excited."

Sawyer plans to use her winnings to move her retirement date closer to reality. For their part in selling the winning ticket, Barney's will receive a bonus from the Idaho Lottery for $12,000.

Sawyer is returning to northern Idaho and not available for comment.

At the same time Sawyer was claiming her winning ticket, Brent Stoneberg, who served in the United States Marines Corps in the 1960's, was also in the Idaho Lottery winner's lobby claiming a $100,000 prize on this year's most patriotic Scratch GameTM, Red, White, and Blue Cashword.

Stoneberg, a regular Lottery player, bought his winning ticket at the Albertsons on 17th on the eastside of Idaho Falls. Stoneberg, a life-long resident of Idaho Falls, had no immediate plans for his winnings.

For their part in selling the winning ticket, Albertson's will receive a bonus from the Idaho Lottery for $12,000.

Stoneberg is returning to his home in Idaho Falls and unavailable for comment.

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