As is routine, Kimberley Adamik stops in Willy’s Beer & Beverage in Harmar every Thursday as she works her garbage truck route.
She plays some scratch-off games and goes on her way.
But the “$1 Million? Seriously” game she played June 22 stopped her in her tracks.
“I went over and scanned it, and went, ‘Oh,’ ” said Adamik, 56, of Fawn.
Adamik’s scratch-off ticket was worth $1 million, the top prize for the $20 “1 Million? Seriously” game.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Lottery assistant western regional sales manager Allen Zieglar, Adamik and her friends and family celebrated her win with a commemorative check ceremony at the Harmar beer distributor on Freeport Road.
She has been playing the lottery for about 35 years but had never won anything close to $1 million.
“It’s a good day for me, that Thursday,” she said, tearfully, during her ceremony. “I thank God every day for my family and friends, and for blessing me.”
Asked what her occupation is, Adamik laughed and said, “sanitation engineer,” elaborating that she is a garbage truck driver for her father’s company, Richard S. Adamik Trucking.
On June 22, she bought $50 worth of scratch-off tickets and used the winnings to purchase her top-winning “$1 Million? Seriously” game, she said.
She scratched the ticket off at the store and scanned it, as owner Linda Wilson asked whether she hit the big one.
Wilson said she was excited when Adamik won the big prize. Adamik was more reserved.
“She asked why I was calm,” Adamik said. “I said, ‘It’ll sink in later.’ ”
Willy’s Beer & Beverage earns a $5,000 bonus for selling Adamik’s winning ticket. Scratch-offs are distributed randomly, meaning the lottery and its retailers are unaware where winning tickets will be sold, according to lottery officials.
Adamik’s seven-figure win is the biggest in the store’s history.
Adamik said she finished her work route that day and showed her parents the winning ticket when she got back to the office. Her mother, Sandra, couldn’t believe it; Rich began to tear up.
Like his daughter, Rich plays scratch-off games often, Kimberley Adamik said, and also was shocked at her luck.
“He never thought he would see a million-dollar ticket,” she said.
Adamik said she plans to keep her job and use her winnings to fix up her home and build a fenced-in yard for her 4-year-old dog, Haley, who was rescued from Paws Across Pittsburgh.
“She deserves it,” said Adamik’s cousin, Lisa Kriss. “She’s a hardworking person and believes in paying it forward.”
Adamik’s longtime friend, Becky Christy, agreed.
“She doesn’t have any enemies. Everybody loves her. And everybody I’ve talked to has said nobody deserves it more than her,” Christy said.
