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Some people wear a rabbit’s foot. Others wear lucky charms. Darlee Arambula doesn’t need any of that.
For the fourth time in her life, Arambula has earned major winnings from the Hoosier Lottery, but this time she let 13 of her co-workers in on the celebration.
The group of 14 workers from Lincoln Food Service, 1111 N. Had-ley Road, claimed a $100,000 cash prize from the Hoosier Lottery’s $20 scratch-off game Monday. Arambula and co-worker Irma Phillips corralled the group six weeks ago to create the weekly pool. Each member pays $1.45 each week.
Veda Klug, one of the lotto winners, said the group was privileged to have Arambula’s good luck on their side.
“We like to stick with the lucky ones because when you have more rabbits’ feet, you know you’re going to win,” Klug said. “Negative people don’t win nothing. It’s all about the positive attitude.”
Arambula won two $5,000 prizes last year and appeared on the “Hoosier Millionaire” TV show in 1985 – also representing a group of co-workers.
Klug scratched off the winning ticket Friday in front of Arambula at work.
“Both of us let out a scream, and they thought we had cut our hand in the machine or something,” Arambula said.
“They were gonna call 911,” Klug said.
Winner Lewis Compos said at first he did not believe they had actually won.
“First thing I thought was, ‘They got a fake ticket,’ ” Compos said.
For a while, though, the $100,000 ticket lay unscratched in winner Virginia Stewart’s truck.
She purchased the ticket from Rickers, 3833 S. Calhoun St., on June 30 and, due to the July 4 holiday, left it in the visor of her truck until Thursday night. After a phone call from Arambula, Stewart placed the ticket on the seat so she wouldn’t forget it in the morning.
“I’m a forgetful person,” she said.
Forgetting to scratch off lottery tickets is good luck for Stewart, though. She once purchased a $2 ticket on a Wednesday, scratched it off on the following Sunday and won $500.
Some of the winners suggested she hold on to their next ticket for even longer.
The group vowed to continue their pool, and they expect their earnings won’t change much. On the day they realized they were winners, those at work stayed for the duration of the day. Arambula and Klug even worked two hours overtime.
The 14 people will each receive $7,142.70 in earnings before taxes, and they each intend to use it differently.
Mark Alexander said he will put some of the money into his savings account, and the rest will be used to buy new flooring he promised his wife. He still had the check in his pocket Wednesday afternoon.
Stewart said she didn’t know what she was going to do with her winnings.
“But I bet my kids have plans for it,” she said.
The other winning co-workers are Jerry Baugher, John Bice, Dave Branning, Tasha Brookshire, Laura Dubea, Laurie Miller, Vincent Maranto and Vernetta White.
The pool from Fort Wayne isn’t the only group of workers to reap the benefits of the Hoosier Lottery.
A group of nine former Delphi workers from Anderson claimed a $9 million cash prize Monday. Their winnings came just in time, as their Delphi plant will close at year’s end.
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