Sisters woman hits lottery win

Lorna Hewitt of Sisters didn’t expect a few hours in front of a sewing machine would produce nearly $127,000 in addition to the facemasks she was making.

After being laid off from her job at a restaurant, Hewitt found part-time work at a local grocery store. It was there she got the idea to make facemasks for her co-workers.

“They liked them so much, they started giving me some money for them,” Hewitt said. “So, I started selling them, because my boss couldn’t order any more; there was a shortage.”

Hewitt said using money from making facemasks, she bought a Keno 8-spot ticket from Sisters Mainline Station.

“I don’t play a lot, but thought I was doing something to help, maybe I would win,” she said.

Her father, Keith Miller, used to play Keno 8-spot, so that’s what she chose. She bought $100 worth of play. Hewitt, who lives in Sisters with her mother, Shirley Miller, said the pair were sitting on the couch and she was monitoring play on the Lottery app.

“I was on my 45th game and I thought, ‘Oh, this is not good; I’ve only won $6.’ All my numbers came up and I said ‘Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!’ Then I wasn’t sure it was really real. I wasn’t sure I’d really won it.”

But win it she did, which was verified at Sisters Mainline Station the next day, where the clerk exclaimed “It was you?!”

Hewitt claimed her prize after making an appointment with the Oregon Lottery. The Oregon Lottery offices in Salem are still closed pending guidance from Gov. Kate Brown.

Her first stop after claiming her prize at the Oregon Lottery headquarters was Joann Fabrics in Salem for more mask-making supplies.

“My masks are popular, and I want to keep making them – and maybe some other things,” she said.

As for the funds, Hewitt plans to be conservative.

“It’s my retirement,” said the 65-year-old, who recently divorced. “I might buy a little camper so I can go camping and have a little fun.”