LANSING — Cassopolis resident Robert Norton didn’t believe it when he scratched his Sparkling Gems instant ticket and it revealed that he had won $250,000.
“I had to have someone else look at the ticket and confirm what I was seeing,” Norton said.
Norton, who lists his hobbies as watching sports and watching his children play sports, has played the lottery for 36 years. In that time he had won $720.
“This is much better,” he said with a smile.  Norton will use his winnings to pay off debts that were incurred when he was out of work.
“It will definitely take some of the stress off,” he said.
The winning ticket was purchased at the Meijer 175 gas station, 824 South U.S. Highway 131, Three Rivers.
More than 95 cents of every dollar spent on lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to retailers.
In fiscal year 2011, the contribution to schools was more than $727.3 million. Since its inception in 1972, the lottery has contributed more than $16 billion to education in Michigan.