Lucky Louisburg man to share Cash 5 winnings with family

A week before his 60th wedding anniversary, Willie Tabron received a present. It wasn’t from his wife, but she won’t mind.

The retired construction worker from Louisburg bought one of two tickets that matched all five numbers of the Carolina Cash 5 on New Year’s Eve. That turned into a $212,554 windfall –$147,537 after taxes. The other half of the jackpot went to a retired social worker in Hillsborough.

Tabron says he plans to share the prize money with his family, after playing a combination of their birthdays and his anniversary for the past two months.

“Doesn’t it make you happy when your children are happy,” Tabron said. “I play every day but I don’t play but $1 a day. I think it’s good to support education and maybe even win some money.”

The odds of hitting the jackpot playing Cash 5 are 1 in 575,757. Half of the proceeds of the North Carolina Education Lottery go to winners, 15 percent go to retailers and cost of sales, and the other 35 percent is earmarked for various parts of the education budget.