High River has proved bountiful for some lotto winners.

Two million-dollar tickets were sold days apart in High River.

Nanton’s Thorne and Maxine Thompson were in High River on October 18 when they stopped at the Co-Op Food Centre and purchased their tickets for the Western Max draw that night.

Maxine says it wasn’t until October 27 that they scanned their ticket using the Lotto Spot app and discovered they were about to be millionaires.

"When I checked this ticket, I thought, ‘wow, we won $1,000’," she explained. "I took it to Thorne to check, and he said, ‘no, we won a million!’"

"We really couldn’t believe it," Thorne laughed.

They won by exactly matching all seven numbers to one of the Guaranteed Prizes drawn on the October 18 WESTERN MAX draw. 

The Thompsons have a few plans for their windfall.

"We are going to put it in the bank, and we want to help out the family," Maxine said.

"We used to dream about being lottery winners; now we are!"

Just a few days later Lorniel Velez stopped at Circle K on 5th Street in High River to grab his ticket on the evening of the October 21 LOTTO MAX draw.

The following week, Velez returned to the same store, scanned his tickets using the self-checker, and discovered he was about to be $1 million richer. 

Velez’s ticket matched the winning numbers for one of the winning MAXMILLIONS prizes on the draw.

"I was happy," Velez recalled laconically. He headed home to share the good news with his wife.

"I got home and asked my wife what she wanted me to buy for her," he chuckled. "Then I told my son that I won the lottery."

Velez has a few ideas for his windfall; "I’m going to pay off my mortgage and put some into savings.

It’s a relief," he added. "I don’t have to worry about my kids' college."