"Down-To-Earth" Couple Wins $270M Jackpot

Mega Millions Fortune For Small-Town Georgia Pair, Who Lived In Trailer; Had Declared Bankruptcy Twice

(CBS)  Tonya Harris describes herself and her husband, Bobby Harris, as "down-to-earth" people.

Now, add "very rich" to that!

The couple bought the sole winning ticket for the top prize in Friday night's $270 million Mega Millions drawing.

He told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Monday it hasn't sunk in yet. She says it's starting to.

They'd been living in a trailer in the tiny town of Portal, Ga., and records show the ironworker and his wife had declared bankruptcy twice.

Bobby picked the numbers and Tonya bought the two $1 tickets just hours before the drawing.

Bobby used the birth dates of five of their six grandchildren to pick the winning numbers: 7, 12, 13, 19, 22. Tonya says she's still not sure what prompted Bobby to pick the all-important Mega Ball number of 10, which made the difference between winning the $270 million or $250,000.

The Harrises have two daughters who also live in Portal, and plan to take the winnings as a lump sum, which would leave them with $164 million before taxes.

Bobby wasted no time checking into Atlanta's Ritz Hotel, from which he and Tonya spoke to Rodriguez.

"It was something different," he admitted. "Not a suburban lodge, anyhow!"

Tonya says, "My husband called my daughter to get the birthdays right of the grandchildren. We know -- he knows them, but he wanted to make sure. Five out of six of the grandchildren, he picked their numbers. We have one, Cody, that's Dec. 30 -- Bobby decided to play 10 for the Power (Mega) Ball instead of 30. Why, is beyond me. I mean, I never have even asked him that. But it was just unreal."

Bobby says his boss found it hard to believe he'd won, and was quitting: "When I told him that I did hit and I wasn't coming back, he realized that it's true. He asked me to give it back for a few weeks and finish what I was doing, but I told him, 'No, thank you.' "

Tonya says she didn't believe Bobby at first, either.

"When he come home with the ticket," she told Rodriguez, "I asked him, you know, 'Can I look at it?' I checked it off with the printout, it really didn't sink in. I mean, I said, 'Well, someone's made a mistake.' Oh, you know, you never think you're gonna win. So, when we went to claim the ticket and they told us we won, it got a little exciting. Got a little screaming and crying there, but yeah. It's real."

Winning, Bobby says, is "just great. To know I won't have to go ask for a job or work for somebody else, that I can finally stay home and enjoy my grandkids."

Tonya added, "I hope everything will just stay normal. I really want the normal life. We'd just like to have a home and some land and things for the grandkids and to help our kids out and our family. But that's as far as we want to go.

"We don't want to live -- I mean, I know we could probably go anywhere we want to go, but that's not us. We're just down-to-earth people, and we want to stay close to home."

Who is this check actually going to? I understand that Tonya BOUGHT the ticket %u2013 it is hers! She seems level-headed enough. Who will actually HANDLE this money? I hope Tonya, along with a trusted financial advisor, handles the money. If Bobby seems to be irresponsible, she should take her half and invest it wisely so there will be something left for the grandchildren. If not, there could be more bankruptcies in several years.

[annabell100]

I hope they use that money wisely. So many lottery winners end up filing bankrupcy and with their past money issues it may catch up to them. Bobby wasted no time checking into Atlanta''s Ritz Hotel is a perfect example. Living in a small town is a curse as well for the simple fact everyone will "want" a piece of that pot in some shape or form and before you know it every dime is gone and you owe so much stuff that you can now not afford. People forget about taxes and insurance. Don''t build a house that you will not be able to pay the property taxes on 10 years from now. Don''t buy a car you can''t afford to pay insurance on. That seems to be the biggest problem with lottery winners, they "blow" their money on things they want and have never had but then can not afford to keep them up. Good luck to this family and god bless them.

[neobrian-2009]

Thank God This Iron Worker Won!
One of The TOUGHEST Jobs in the world!
I Know he and his family will be Very Happy and continue to be Good Democrats!,..A UNION Iron Worker is a Proud American ! and a GOOD DEMOCRAT!

[mediapreachr]

This is your govment advertising for the new racket-to get more of your money.
Lottery-just another name for the fool''s tax.

[facts6]

These folks do seem like really nice people. They should have NEVER allowed their name and photos of their gchildren to be published. God protect them.

[excoachken]

Wow, I hope this doesn''t mean they have to become Republicans!

[esteplj]

It is unfortunate. People that do not have money typically do not know how to have money. This is apparent with these folks by going public this weekend. Problably should have hired a team of people to teach you how to have money. It''s unfortunate and I wish you luck.

[taylpatr]

I''m very pleased to see a Brother Ironworker finally get paid what he''s worth. I can tell this man has worked hard for a long time. It''s criminal that he had to declare bankruptcy. I had to get out because of health reasons. So are many other Ironworkers, not only for health, but because we''ve been made to take wage cuts and our insurance deductible tripled in 2 years. I don''t know who you people think are going to build your bridges and high-rises after all us old farts retire, but if you have to depend on the ones following us, good luck! And as for Brother Harris, you get on down and get you that bass boat, right after you get that new truck. And do like I did:when they call you and ask if you want those tools back, give a good, loud laugh as you''re hanging up the phone.

[gwtwboofy]

Good for these folks! Glad to see somebody win who needs it as opposed to the man who was a multimillionaire who won a few years ago.

veteran71, I''m assuming your comment about Grandpa Jones was satire. He was not murdered. He died in 1998 after suffering a stroke. He did, however, in 1973 discover the bodies of his friend David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife who had been murdered by robbers.

Seems like a lot of people posting comments on here have a really bad case of ''sour grapes''.

[beavis5321]

1.) First move out of that hole.
2.) Move to another state
3.) Pay cash for everything
4.) Buy berkshire hathaway.
5.) Give kids nothing except a harvard education
6.) Get a treadmill
7.) shoot drug dealers that offer
8.) enjoy

[jimfinster]

The money will destroy them and their children. The fate of lottery winners is not pretty.

[questionnews]

I keep picturing the end of the movie "The Jerk" when the poor parents came into all that money & built themselves a brand new shack that looked just like thier old one only 3 times the size.

[inventagod]

sweetreeeed -
I was just missing the acid years, but you reminded me why I stopped...

[boston1954]

Spend it now. Go out to dinner. Get a nice piece of land. Take some vacations. You will not be taking one dime with you later.

[shanev137]

I''ll give it about 5 years before they''re broke again, filing bankruptcy, and living in a trailer.

[easeup-2009]

"Pretty soon there will be casinos and strip joints everywhere."

Posted by pbdobb at 03:57 PM : Feb 25, 2008

You almost make that sound like a bad thing....

[jetlizhan]

good for them!!!

[pbdobb]

The lottery is a slippery slope. Pretty soon there will be casinos and strip joints everywhere. And who knows, you may get to see strippers on live TV. Who''s the trash here?

[bdbeans]

Good for them. It''s nice to see god working his miracles everyday. I pray that he will guide them and continue to bless them as he''s blessed us all.

[inventagod]

Kudos easeup
just gettin ready to post same...