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Athens father of 3 treasures family, $274K Fantasy 5 win

ATLANTA — An Athens father is stunned, having won an impressive Fantasy 5 jackpot prize. Forrest Hawkins, 77, won the $274,461 jackpot prize, matching all five numbers, from the Feb. 15 Fantasy 5 drawing.

Hawkins used his own, his three adult daughters’ and his wife’s birthdays as his lucky combination.

Winning numbers from the Feb.15 Fantasy 5 drawing were: 1-5-7-8-12.

Union Store, 151 Nellie B Ave. in Athens, sold the winning ticket.

“I’m surprised! I looked at it, and the numbers fell the same way that I played it,” he said. “I feel very good.”

Retired from the U.S. Air Force, Hawkins has no immediate plans for his windfall.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $15 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.6 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.3 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.