January 23, 2009 -- Last year had been a tough one for Kevin and Denise McQuade of Trumbull, having faced one family hardship after another. Then, like so many other people in today’s workplace, Kevin was laid off from his job. Just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse, life bestowed some luck upon the McQuade family when Kevin purchased a Powerball with Power Play “Quick Pick” ticket for the January 21, 2009 drawing and won $1,000,000.

“I really couldn’t believe it. The day we found out that we won…I felt like I was walking in a cloud,” Kevin told lottery officials.

The winning Powerball numbers for that date were 20-26-38-46-54. The Powerball was 23, and the Power Play Multiplier was 4. For matching five of the six numbers drawn, the McQuade’s won $200,000. Since McQuade Power Played his ticket, under the new and improved Powerball game that went into effect on January 4, 2009, his base prize was automatically multiplied by 5 for a prize value of $1,000,000.

Believe it or not, there is more to the story. Today, when the McQuade family arrived at lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill to claim their $1,000,000 Powerball with Power Play prize, they found themselves lucky again. While Lottery staff processed their claim, a $1 ticket was purchased for the Lottery’s new “Beginner’s Luck” scratch game to play as they waited. Scratching the ticket, Denise quickly realized she had won again, this time it was the game’s top prize. “I can’t believe it. I think I won $3,000!,” Denise shouted out to family members and to the complete amazement of lottery staff.

The McQuade’s two tickets produced two prize amounts -- the original $1,000,000 won playing Powerball with Power Play, and an added $3,000 won on the Beginnner’s Luck ticket purchased at the Lottery offices. CT Lottery officials presented Denise and Kevin with two prize checks totaling $702,850 (the value after taxes) for the two tickets.

Power Play, a feature that players can choose to activate for an extra $1 per play, gives them a chance to multiply their winnings 2, 3, 4, or 5 times the value on all non-jackpot prizes. There were a total of 13,907 winning tickets sold statewide for that drawing whose values ranged from $3 to $1,000,000 million each.

Stop & Shop on Quality Street in Trumbull sold the winning Powerball ticket, and will receive a $2,000 bonus for the sale.