Woman becomes 2-time lottery winner

POST FALLS — Dawna McCallum of Cheney, Wash., became a two-time Idaho Lottery winner on Friday after simply following her instincts both times.

In 2012, McCallum was the third-ever winner of the Idaho Lottery’s Weekly Grand game, which provides winners $1,000 a week every week for an entire year with withholding taxes paid by the Idaho Lottery. At the time, she had made a New Year’s resolution to win the lottery and pay down her medical debt. Three weeks after New Year's Day 2012, she did just that.

Fast forward four years to last week. McCallum was on her way to a social event, "Working Women’s Wednesday" hosted by KZZU radio of Spokane.

Last Wednesday, the event was being held at the Timber GastroPub in Post Falls. On her way there, she was listening to the station and heard the song "Timber" by Pitbull and Ke$ha. Seeing the unusual juxtaposition of these two similarities in names, McCallum decided to stop and buy an Idaho Lottery ticket from the Seltice Way Stop-n-Go in Post Falls. The store won $25,000 for selling the ticket.

"I went in thinking I was going to get a Powerball ticket, but then I saw they had a Scratch Game called Big Timber," said McCallum of her winning purchase. "It was like everything was lining up for me. First the name of the place I was going, then the song, and then the ticket. I had to buy it."

McCallum claimed the game’s top prize of $100,000 from her purchase.

"It was like the last time. It was meant to be," said a surprised McCallum.

McCallum plans to finish paying off debt and then invest the balance of her winnings.