Trio of Nalco Chemical Employees Claim $200,000 Powerball Prize from July 2 Drawing

Andy Brenn of Maurepas, Jim Blazek and Ellen Mancuso, both of Gonzales, carpool to work every morning.  On their day off last Thursday  they carpooled again, this time to the Louisiana Lottery headquarters in Baton Rouge to claim a $200,000 Powerball prize from the July 2 drawing.

The trio of Nalco Chemical Company employees said they take turns purchasing $3 worth of Powerball tickets every Wednesday and Saturday.  July 2 was Brenn's week to get the tickets, which he purchased at Fisherman's One Stop on Highway 22 in St. Amant.  The ticket matched all five white ball numbers drawn to win $200,000. The retailer will receive a $2,000 bonus for selling Brenn the winning ticket.

"My wife was actually the one who checked the numbers in the paper and  called me over to see," explained Brenn.  He then telephoned Mancuso, but there was no answer.  "So, I called Jim and while I was trying to convince him, Ellen returned my call."

"I thought he'd hung up, so I told my wife 'You have to get him back on the phone.  We won!'," Blazek laughed.  With the help of Mancuso's daughter, the three finally were able to initiate a conference call.

"We were all just yelling and laughing," recalled Mancuso.  "You couldn't understand a word of it."

The winning numbers for the July 2 Powerball drawing were 4-33-46-48-52 and the Powerball number was 17. Players have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim draw-style game prizes. 

Ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age.  The Lottery encourages anyone who has a gambling problem or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867 for help.