Port Alberni boasts of one of the winningest convenience stores in B.C. Lottery Corporation history.

Last week, the A-1 Convenience on Redford Street celebrated its five, million-dollar and multi-million-dollar winners as part of its 26-year anniversary.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 the luck of the draw,害羞草研究所� said Jodi Rai, who opened the store in 1993 with his wife, Surinder. 害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 their luck and we are just the provider. We害羞草研究所檙e really glad they won.害羞草研究所�

Al and Helga Fry were the first million-dollar winners at A-1 Convenience, in 1996.

害羞草研究所淚t was a random ticket,害羞草研究所� Helga recalled.

Al bought the ticket. He remembers he was watching a football game on TV when he checked the numbers and realized they won $1 million. He put the ticket on their china cabinet, told Helga to take a look at it 害羞草研究所渢hen I finished watching the football game,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淔or two weeks, the ticket sat there.害羞草研究所�

When the couple finally went to Victoria to claim their prize, they stayed in a hotel that was as close to the lottery ticket office as they could get. It wasn害羞草研究所檛 an expensive hotel, Helga said, and no one suspected they were big winners.

害羞草研究所淲e sat in the hotel having breakfast with our picture on the front page [of a newspaper] and no one sitting around us knew who we were.害羞草研究所�

They didn害羞草研究所檛 do anything splashy with their money, but they helped their children.

Next was Rocky and Patti LaPlante, who bought a Celebration ticket on Jan. 16, 1997, and became the next instant millionaires. They wife ended up giving a lot of their winnings away.

In 1998, Otto Anker joined the A-1 Convenience millionaire club.

The fourth million-dollar win from the same convenience store came nearly a decade later.

Richard Zoet kept quiet about his win for a few days. It had come at the conclusion of a difficult period in his life: He had come out of bankruptcy a week earlier following a jail sentence and repayment to ICBC.

A regular lotto player in the past, Zoet bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket for the June 7, 2017 draw. 害羞草研究所淲hen it showed online that the winner was from Port Alberni, I said that was my ticket. Then I checked it and it was a winning ticket. I just sat on it.害羞草研究所�

Since then, he has bought new cars for himself and his mother, and made numerous donations to charities.

The latest new millionaires are Ian and Louise Thomas, who snagged $5 million on Feb. 13.

害羞草研究所淚 bought the ticket, and I checked it,害羞草研究所� Louise said. 害羞草研究所淲e were up at the Smoke Stack, it害羞草研究所檚 friends of ours that own it. We went up to say hi. I hadn害羞草研究所檛 checked my ticket yet害羞草研究所� she put the ticket in the machine and it seized up. She said 害羞草研究所榃hat have you done to my machine?害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟

害羞草研究所淲e went into shock,害羞草研究所� Ian said. 害羞草研究所淭he girls behind the counter were screaming.害羞草研究所�

Eventually, the Thomases want to travel, but Louise is still working right now. They will soon have family in Mississauga, Ont., and plan on making regular trips there.

害羞草研究所淭o have this many winners that have won major prizes 害羞草研究所� to all buy from one store, is pretty rare,害羞草研究所� said BCLC territory manager Taylor Landry.

Everytime a big winner is announced at the store, Rai said he sees a spike in sales. Even people attending the anniversary celebration on Friday said they had bought tickets that day.

Most of the winners claim A-1 Convenience as their neighbourhood corner store, and all of them decided to stay in the neighbourhood despite their big wins. They all still buy lottery tickets too.

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