For one big lottery winner, no big changes

For Anthony Manzolillo, winning $3.2 million in the Powerball lottery last June hasn't changed his life much.

The 74-year-old Lindenhurst resident and former Costco worker still bowls twice a week in a league. He works out on a treadmill in his basement.

He and his wife did travel twice to Florida to visit Disney World, and he bought a new car -- but nothing fancy, a Ford Edge.

"I go about my everyday life just the way I've been doing since 50 years ago," Manzolillo said Friday. "It's not changed my life that drastically, because God's been good to me and I've been very fortunate."

Manzolillo was the organizer of a group of 20 workers at the Costco in Melville who split a $200 million jackpot.

That prize was eclipsed last month by a $208 million Mega Millions winner -- Long Island's largest lottery jackpot. A California couple, who received their check Friday, bought the winning ticket at a King Kullen in Middle Island.

Manzolillo put aside $300,000 of his winnings for himself and his wife, saying that's all he needed. He already had pensions from his 32-year career in the revenue department of the Long Island Rail Road, and from a decade of work at Costco.

He gave the rest of the money to his three children. It allowed them to pay off their mortgages and, in the case of one daughter, stop moonlighting at Costco and work just one job -- at a doctor's office.

Manzolillo said he was pleased that most of his co-winners didn't do crazy things with their money. One helped his mother, who raised five children on her own, pay off her house.

One thing he didn't like about being an instant millionaire was the propositions from Costco customers who wanted to help manage his money -- or just get a piece of it. Women suddenly expressed a romantic interest. So, he quit a few weeks ago.

"Now I know what a lot of people in public life go through," he said. "And I only had 15 minutes of fame."

For Richard Morrison, it's been a different story.

He and his wife, Mary, who ran homeless shelters on Long Island for years and once were on the verge of bankruptcy, won a $165 million Mega Millions drawing in December 2009.

They've moved out of their Miller Place home into an exclusive Port Jefferson enclave, and set up a $5 million foundation to help charitable causes. The money -- they actually took home about $67 million after taxes -- has reduced the stress in their lives and brought their family closer together, Richard Morrison said.

At 62, he's fulfilling a longtime dream -- finishing a book on the Constitution that's been 20 years in the making. The family is also opening a restaurant in Port Jefferson.In honor of his mother and grandmother it will be called Graceful Rose.