PRAIRIE CITY – “I thought it had to be a joke.”

That was Joy Waterhouse’s first reaction when she saw that the Scratch-It lottery ticket in her hands was a winner.

Make that a big winner … $25,000 worth.

The Prairie City resident and her husband Gary bought the “Rubik’s Cube” ticket, plus a few groceries, at Huffman’s Market in Prairie City about 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17. They had no idea at the time that they would be heading right back to the store.

Joy said she usually buys about two $2 scratch-off tickets each week, averaging wins of a few dollars every now and then.

After first having the winning ticket checked out at Huffman’s – where Joy said “everyone was excited and wanted to touch me” – the Waterhouses then made a call to the lottery office in Salem for more verification and instructions.

Oregon Lottery officials said that she could either mail the ticket to them by registered mail, after making front and back copies of it, or come on in to the lottery office there in person.

“I didn’t want to let it out of my hands,” she said.

So over to Salem they went the following Sunday. They stayed overnight at a motel and were ready to walk into the Lottery office first thing Monday morning.

In the meantime, Joy said, “I must have looked at that ticket at least 15 more times.”

“Everyone there (at the Lottery office) was so nice,” Joy reported. “They were very happy for me.”

After some information-gathering and driver’s license-checking, Joy was issued a check – minus taxes.

Lottery officials gave her a bag of “free goodies” and she also treated herself to a Lottery T-shirt. The Waterhouses visited with family while in Salem, went out for a nice dinner, and did some shopping at Cosco.

Joy said that they’ve been re-modeling their house, so the money will come in handy.

What she at first thought was a “big mistake” is now “truly a blessing,” she said.