Toronto, ON – After 36 years of marriage, Joe and Lise Menard of Cache Bay, Ontario still cherish their regular Friday date night, which includes dinner out, a stop at the store to buy their weekly lottery tickets and spending the rest of the drive home talking about their hopes and dreams.

A recent date night and lottery purchase transformed this loving couple into Ontario’s newest multi-millionaires. Joe and Lise won the $34 million jackpot in the LOTTO 6/49 Gold Ball draw on June 21, 2025.

During an exciting winner celebration in Toronto, Joe and Lise, who held hands throughout the festivities, recounted the events leading up to their incredible windfall. “We always buy our lottery tickets on Friday as part of our date night,” Lise explained. “We happened to stop at a gas station, and I had some old tickets in my purse, so I asked Joe to check them after he finished pumping the gas.”

“When I went in to pay for the gas, I asked the clerk to check the tickets,” said Joe. “After seeing they weren’t winners, the clerk asked if I wanted to replay them. I usually get new tickets using Quick Pick, but this time I replayed the old ones.”

“When I heard on the news that the LOTTO 6/49 Gold Ball ticket was sold in Northern Ontario, I had a premonition that we had the winning ticket,” he continued. “It wasn’t until later that evening that Lise checked the tickets on her phone with the OLG app.”

Lise recalled she was in disbelief when she saw the winning message on her phone. “I almost had a heart attack. I kept saying ‘Joe! Joe! Joe!’ At first, he thought we had won $34,000 and I kept telling him to look at the all the zeros!”

The retired couple wanted to share the news with their grown children right away. “They couldn’t believe what we were telling them,” said Lise. “They thought we were playing a joke on them, but when I sent them a screenshot of the $34 million message from the OLG app, they started screaming. They were so excited for us.”

Joe and Lise met when Joe took Lise to her high school prom, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Though they have both worked hard all their lives, they say they have always watched their pennies carefully. Both admit that this win will now make life a little easier for their family. “The big thing for us was to take care of the kids the best way we can,” said an emotional Lise. “Now my kids will be taken care of — no more worries. When someone needs something, we will be there to help.”

Traveling across Canada is dream that is about to come true for Joe and Lise, as they plan to visit each coast and stop at all the great Canadian cities in between.

Joe also wants to fulfil a promise he made to Lise all those times they were driving home from their date nights. “I’ve always wanted to give her a dream home, and now she’s going to get it.” Lise says there’s one very special thing she wants in that new dream home: “I’ve always dreamed of having a big harvest table so we can all sit together for family meals and entertain more during the holidays. No more sitting all over the house — now we’ll be all together.”  

As a retired mechanic, Joe still loves working on vintage cars and will be making a special purchase. “Since I was 16 years old, I have been dreaming of hot rods, and now I’m going to get one!”

Joe also vows to fulfill another longtime promise to his wife. Lise proudly wears a large fake diamond ring that Joe made as a joke gift for their 15^th wedding anniversary, crafted from a steel nut welded on to a big novelty crystal. “She’s going to get a real diamond ring now for putting up with me all those years,” Joe said with a twinkle in his eye.

As the Menards began to settle into the reality that this lottery win will help improve their way of life, they both admit that their love for each other and their family has always been strong and will remain that way. Lise became very emotional when describing their lives together. “Joe’s favourite saying is ‘What Momma wants, Momma gets.’ Even though we didn’t have much, he’s always given me what I wanted and has never shied away. He’s my best friend, and he will always be.”    

Joe, who likes to joke around, said, “Now that we’ve won this money, people may want to change the name of our small town — between Sudbury and North Bay — from Cache Bay to CA$H Bay!”

The Menards purchased their winning ticket at Arrowhead Gas Bar on Osprey Miikan Road on Nipissing First Nation, near North Bay.      

LOTTO 6/49 offers players a chance to win two multi-million dollar jackpots every Wednesday and Saturday, for the same $3 per play.

The Classic Draw offers a fixed $5 million jackpot for every draw, while the Gold Ball Draw guarantees a $1 million prize, or the growing jackpot that starts at $10 million and can exceed $60 million. Click here for more information about the new LOTTO 6/49.

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