Does Crawford County possess ‘lottery luck?’

It may not be entirely foolish for a person to spend a lunch hour buying a few lottery tickets in various Crawford County grocery and convenience stores.

In early May, Constance Jarrell of Mountainburg claimed a $200,000 prize on a Powerball ticket she bought at Simmons Quik Stop on U.S. 71 in Mountainburg. Other than paying some bills, Jarrell and her husband had no immediate plans on how they would spend the lottery loot.

The win made her one of 14 in the county to have won a prize of $10,000 or more since the Arkansas Lottery sold its first ticket on Sept, 28, 2009.

In January 2010, a $1 million winning ticket was sold at Uniontown Grocery.

Zachary Dean, also of Mountainburg and then a student at Arkansas Tech University, won $147,059 in March 2010.

Daniel Garnaat of Natural Dam claimed a $10,000 Powerball Prize on Sept. 8, 2010. Less than a month later, Scott Overby of Alma claimed a $20,000 prize on a Cool Cash ticket purchased at Shell Superstop in Alma.

On Jan. 26, Karrie VanEngen of Van Buren claimed a $25,000 prize on a Betty Boop instant ticket purchased at Murphy USA on Fayetteville Road in Van Buren.

According to info from Julie Baldridge, director of public affairs and legislative relations for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, 81 Crawford County residents have have claimed lottery prizes, with 14 of those over $10,000. Following is the breakdown on the 14 win prizes.
$1 million: 1
$200,000: 1
$147,059: 1
$100,000: 1
$25,000: 1
$20,000: 4
$10,000: 5

Detailed comparisons are not readily available because the ASL does not categorize prize winners by amounts, where the ticket was purchased, or where the winner lives, Baldridge said. However, she does agree that it appears Crawford County has a surprising number of big winners.

“Crawford County’s 60,000 population may make it the 12th largest county in Arkansas, but it still has only about 2 percent of Arkansas’s population. With four winners of $100,000 or higher, one of them a $1 Million winner, it appears to be a pretty good place to live in terms of lottery luck,” Baldridge noted in an e-mail interview.

Arkansas Lottery proceeds provide scholarships and grants to Arkansas residents enrolled in public and private nonprofit two-year and four-year colleges and universities within the state. Roughly 25% of the revenue from lottery sales are directed to scholarship funds.