Seward County Independent

    As Christmas approaches and the season of giving is upon us, two Seward residents received an unexpected present a little early, a present worth $500,000.
     The two men, Herb Folkerts, semi-retired, currently working as a custodian at the Seward Armory, and Dean Schultz, treating plant manager at Hughes Brothers in Seward, are friends from way back.
     "I've know him (Schultz) since he was yay high," Folkerts said, holding his hand about three feet off the ground.
     The two live on the same street in Seward.
     Folkerts and Schultz are regular customers of the Gas N' Snaks convenience store in Seward and both happened to be in the store on the morning of Dec. 12. Folkerts was playing Nebraska lottery scratch tickets, but not having too much luck.
     "I took a vacation day Tuesday, just for a little time off," Schultz said. "I just stopped up there to get a pop. I wasn't playing no tickets, but Herb was playing a few tickets."
     Schultz then decided to try a few tickets himself, but was not too successful.
     "I didn't have no luck so I asked Herb if he wanted to split a ticket," Schultz said.
     The ticket they decided to split the cost of was a $500,000 Cash Jubilee, one of the $20 scratch tickets recently issued by the Nebraska Lottery. Both Folkerts and Schultz said they rarely played the more expensive scratch tickets.
     "That was really, I think the second time I played the $20 tickets since they came out. That was just too damned expensive for one person to buy, that's why Dean and I split," Folkerts said.
     On Dec. 12 they split three of the tickets unsuccessfully and were about to give up before deciding to try one more.
     "Herb was walking away and I asked him if he wanted to try one more," Schultz said. "Somebody had made a comment to me that one in four (tickets) is supposed to be a winner."
     Folkerts decided to give it one more try with Schultz.
     "Herb just said, 'You scratch it, I'm not having too good of luck today," Schultz said.
     Winning on the ticket requires matching up numbers printed on the card. Schultz said he usually waits to see if any of the numbers match up before he scratches off the prize amount. He followed the same system this time and saw that some of the numbers matched up.
     "I said, 'Well, Herb I think we're going to get our money back," Schultz said.
     Then he revealed the prize amount on the card. Surprised and unsure about the top prize number he saw, Schultz handed the ticket to Rachel Hulbert, the clerk working at Gas N' Snaks that morning, for confirmation.
     "She started doing what we should have been doing," Schultz said. "She started screaming and jumping up and down."
     The commotion attracted the attention of Norm Johnson, manager of Gas N' Snaks, who was in the back of the store.
     "I hear a bunch of screaming and I come out here and she's (Hulbert) screaming and they're standing there looking at each other speechless. Actually, one was muttering, 'I don't believe it,' and the other was muttering, 'Look at this,'" Johnson said.
     "It was very surprising, at least that amount, we'd have been satisfied if we'd even won $1,000, or even $500 to split," Folkerts said.
     Folkerts has had some experience with winning large cash prizes, having scratched a ticket worth $10,000 about five years ago.
     Gas N' Snaks received a one percent high prize sellers bonus, or $5,000 from the Nebraska Lottery. The store also has experience with large cash prizes, having already sold a $98,000 Pick 5 ticket and two $10,000 Powerball tickets earlier this year. Last year the store sold a $4,000 scratch ticket winner and the store has also had a customer win $35,000 on a scratch ticket and a new pickup truck from a scratch ticket.
     "It (Gas N' Snaks) seems to be the place to go, I don't know," Johnson said.
     Due to the large amount of prize money Folkerts and Schultz won this time they had to go to the Nebraska Lottery offices in Lincoln in order to claim their prize. Following confirmation and processing of the winning ticket the funds were then electronically transferred to Schultz's account and will be evenly split between Folkerts and Schultz from there.
     Schultz said that based on talks he has had with accountants and the figuring he has done, each will get approximately $175,000, after 30 percent is taken out for taxes.
     Both already have plans for some of their winnings. They both plan to invest part of their winnings after paying off existing bills they have.
     Schultz has placed an order for a new pickup truck, a 2007 Dodge Ram, may build a new garage on his home and has plans for tentative vacations to New York City and Cancun early next year. He also may give some back to his church and employees of Gas N' Snaks.
     Folkerts has some similar plans.
     "We're going to buy our first new car," he said.
     He plans to invest the bulk of his winnings to help him during his retirement.
     "I always said that when I hit 80, I'll retire and that'll be in April," he said.
     One of the things he is most looking forward to, however, is a trip that has been in the works for 17 years.
     Folkerts and Maxine, his wife of almost 55 years, had been planning a trip to Europe nearly two decades ago, when Maxine became ill and had to spend time in the hospital.
     The resulting bills and lost time forced them to give up on their European trip. Now, Folkerts said, they have the time and the money and will hopefully be able to make the trip this summer.
     He is hoping to spend much of the trip catching up with and meeting his European relatives, many of whom he has not seen before.
     "I can speak the language if I get back over there and get talking to people," he said. "I got a lot of them to catch up with."
     Both Folkerts and Schultz said the community has been very happy for them and their unexpected windfall.
     "I've had a lot of people that are really happy for us," Folkerts said.