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St. Albans resident wins $1M in lottery

By John Tozzi

Wilkins, a 28-year veteran Waldbaum's worker who won $1 million on a $20 lottery scratch ticket Friday, is still telling customers which bottled water is on sale at the Bay Terrace supermarket where she works.The money, which she will get in annual payments of $50,000 before taxes, will go to pay for college for her five grandchildren, the oldest of whom is 16.”That's my aim, for my grandchildren not to have to want for nothing,” Wilkins said on a recent lunch break. A native of Arkansas who now lives in St. Albans, the 58-year-old Wilkins said she also plans to use some of the cash for a few things for herself. At the top of the list is a new Volvo to replace the 13-year-old model she drives now.”I love Volvo,” she said. “It fits your body like a glove.”Wilkins also wants to buy a new house – “My daughter is on the Internet looking right now,” she said – and will take a vacation in March to visit her oldest son in Dallas.But she does not plan on slowing down or quitting the Waldbaum's store where she has worked for 18 years and where her husband worked before he died in 1994.”I came to work to work,” Wilkins said. “I've done this all my life.”Shoppers stop her on their way into the store to congratulate her.”The customers, they are very happy that somebody won it that they know, and they've all wished me well,” she said.Wilkins said she plans to work for another few years so she can retire with a full pension and then figure out what to do with her newfound wealth.”It's not good to just rush, rush, rush and do things,” she said. “I'm taking my time deciding what I'm going to do next.”And Wilkins has been so busy since she bought the winning ticket at Waldbaum's Friday, she said she has not had a chance to scratch off another one.Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 174.