Surrounded by a hail of confetti, a State Education Lottery official helps North Carolina Powerball jackpot winner Jackie Alston hold aloft the $74.5 million check presented to her during a Friday morning press conference in Raleigh.

Jackie Alston spent two and a half months avoiding the limelight. But on Friday, Alston, the first North Carolina Powerball jackpot winner, provided a glimpse into the life of a brand new millionaire.

“I've just been living normal,” the Halifax resident explained at a press conference in Raleigh Friday morning. “People have been noticing me, but they don't really know, so it's just been fun for me.”

Alston won the $74.5 million jackpot in the Nov. 29 drawing with a ticket purchased at Shell Travel World in Halifax. Her decision to take the winnings as a lump sum means she'll walk away with about $24.5 million after taxes.

Before she approached the podium, State Education Lottery officials warned the press that Alston was “a little nervous.”

But when she stood in front of the news cameras wearing a coral-colored suit and flashing a big smile, the down-to-earth Alston seemed ready to face a curious - if not slightly envious - public. The cameras, microphones, balloons, confetti and even the giant check hardly seemed to faze her.

The 38-year-old single mother fielded the rapid succession of questions like a pro, only hesitating when asked about her personal life, which she did not want to discuss. Her newly-formed advisory team, which includes her brother Algernon, sat on the sidelines and provided moral support.

Algernon was the first person Alston called when she realized she'd won. When she first saw on TV that the winning ticket had been sold in Halifax, Alston, who said she didn't play the lottery very often, initially didn't even consider the possibility it was hers.

She'd used the winning numbers, which represented the ages of children in her family, in previous drawings.

They were 2, 8, 9, 12 and 19, and the Powerball was 25. Once reality set in, the $2 ticket went straight into her brother's safety deposit box.

“It was just overwhelming,” said Alston, who on Dec. 8 resigned from her 15-year job as a corrections officer at Brunswick Correctional Center in Virginia. “I couldn't believe it myself.”

Alston said she has yet to decide what to do with the winnings, but she expects to donate some of the money to charity.

And though there has been some speculation about why she waited more than two months to come forward, Alston provided a simple explanation: “I wanted to be prepared.”

http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2007/02/18/news/news.txt