Locals dream of striking it rich: Powerball jackpot over $600M

LYNN – Tonight’s ever-growing Powerball jackpot, now the largest in the game’s history, had people at Cal’s News on Washington Street buzzing about the possibility of turning a $2 ticket into a fortune.”You have to play it. Even if you don’t win it, just dreaming about it is worth buying the ticket,” said Lynn resident Philip Gandolfo of the jackpot, which had grown to more than $600 million on Friday.Those who aligned their own dreams with that of Gandolfo’s with “faraway places, a high lifestyle and glamorous cars” kept a steady stream coming through the store in preparation for tonight’s drawing, for which tickets will be available until 9:45 p.m.”With that type of money, everything is possible,” said Gandolfo.Store clerk Marc Ducharme said he’s seen a variety of superstitious activity related to the lottery, including people lining up at stores on state borders because others have won at the store in the past for good luck. “Some people go to different stores – one here, one down the street – everyone has their own superstitions,” he said.Whether they are flocking to the border or just walking to their local convenience store, as word of the ever-growing jackpot spreads, it gets even bigger. With the last jackpot won on March 30, it has been growing for about six weeks, said lottery officials, and has grown by about $236 million since the last drawing on Wednesday.Ducharme said most of his customers were buying five or 10 tickets each. Gandolfo said he had bought a total of six for himself this week and was also in a pool of 10 other people with 25 to 30 tickets in play.Even Ducharme, who said he never plays, will be buying a ticket. “I’ll just buy one ticket to be in the game, because you never know,” he said. “The odds are astronomical, but somebody has to win it.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].