Ira and Stella Edelblum, residents of Syosset, were awarded a check for $7,558,502 last Thursday after winning $13.5 million in a New York Lottery drawing held on Oct. 9. The Edelblum's won on a quick pick ticket with the numbers 5, 24, 29, 31, 39 and 48.

Ira has been playing the lotto every week for the last 25 years. He has a routine when he plays. "I brought my ticket in [to Yogi Food Express located on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Jackson Avenue] that I purchased the previous Wednesday and asked the cashier to check my numbers," said Ira. "I saw on the door that there was a $13.5 million ticket sold and all I could say was 'why couldn't that be me?' As he was scanning my ticket the machine was making a dinging noise. I knew that meant I won but the dinging went on and on. When the cashier told me I won, I didn't know what to do. For the first time in my life I was speechless."

A very emotional Stella, who owns Studio 121 Hair Salon on Jackson Avenue in Syosset, addressed those at the press conference. "My husband came in to my hair salon on a busy Saturday morning and said he had to talk to me," said Stella. Ira told his wife "we won the Lotto" repeatedly until she finally believed him. "I was screaming and so excited," said Stella. "I yelled 'everyone can have free haircuts!"

Ira was planning on retiring as an education evaluator from the New York City Department of Education, in two years on his 55th birthday, but bumped up that date and retired on Jan. 6 of this year. Stella said she plans to continue to work at her hair salon for the time being. The couple was married six years ago and have four children between the two of them.

Stella is an active member of the Syosset Chamber of Commerce and has made two generous donations to enable the chamber to purchase the snowflake lights to decorate for the holidays. They recently made their second donation to help the chamber add more for the 2003 holiday season.

Rohit Patel, owner of Yogi Food Express also won, receiving $25,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Syosset's South Grove Elementary School, will be awarded a $1,000 Education Wins computer equipment package as part of the Lottery's ongoing community service program.

"The Lottery's mission is to raise revenue to support education across the state," said Lottery Director Margaret R. DeFrancisco. "Our education Wins program is one way we can demonstrate how revenue raised by the Lottery directly benefits our neighborhood schools."

As part of the program, the New York Lottery provides $1,000 in computer equipment to a randomly selected school located near the home address of its jackpot winners of $1 million or more. Schools have used these grants to purchase basic system items such as monitors and printers, as well as peripherals including scanners and digital cameras.

To date, the Lottery has contributed more than $21 billion to elementary and secondary education in New York State.

The Edelblum's, explained that although they won in October 2002, they wanted to speak with accountants and lawyers before they made any announcement regarding their winnings.