Factory Worker Wins $1 Million Lottery

(WEST FORK, Ark.) -- Frank Karnes is a factory worker who mows lawns and does other odd jobs to help pay the bills for his five kids. It’s not clear whether he will keep mowing lawns now that he is a millionaire.

Karnes, who lives in tiny West Fork, Ark., won the $1 million with a $20 ticket in the Arkansas Millionaires Club jackpot earlier this week.

Karnes is “raising a great family and incredibly hardworking,” says Kristie Drymon, West Fork’s treasurer who says Karnes works at a factory and at any other odd jobs he can get around town, including mowing lawns.

Drymon went to high school with Karnes, graduating a year ahead of him at West Fork High. “We are a close knit town where everybody knows everybody. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad,” said Drymon. The town’s population is 2,400.

“Every employee at City Hall knows of Karnes’ big win,” laughed the operator on the phone.

Karnes’ $20 winning ticket is the most expensive type of lottery ticket in Arkansas where players can take part in lottery’s with buy-ins. The more expensive the ticket, the bigger the prize.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio