Curt and Pam Allen of Astoria.

Pam Allen, who has an Astoria flower stand, is the latest Megabucks millionaire.

Allen put $7 into an Oregon Lottery vending machine Wednesday at the Fred Meyer in Warrenton, state lottery officials say. She purchased three $2 Scratch-its, and had $1 left over. She spent the dollar on a single quick-pick Megabucks ticket.

The ticket was worth $7.8 million.

On Thursday morning, Allen checked her Scratch-its and Megabucks ticket at Fred Meyer. The word “Jackpot” appeared on the screen when she checked the Megabucks ticket.

Not knowing exactly what that meant, Allen went out to her car in the parking lot and called her best friend to check the numbers in the newspaper.

“I wrote the numbers on a scratch paper I found in the car, and checked, and I told her I had all six numbers,” Allen said. “She started crying and I started screaming, it was cool.”

Allen called her husband, Curt, who thought it was a mistake, and also called her son and woke him up after he worked a graveyard shift. The three of them got in the car and drove to Salem.

“Buying the ticket really was an afterthought,” Pam Allen said when she claimed her prize at the lottery office in Salem Thursday afternoon.

By winning the $7.8 million jackpot, Allen became Oregon’s 254th Megabucks millionaire. Allen opted to take the one-time lump sum cash payment option, and took home approximately $2.6 million after taxes.

Allen is a lifelong resident of Astoria and she is going to use the money to fund her retirement, although she still plans to keep the flower stand she operates.

“I love my flowers,” she said. “I’m not going to give those up.”

The winning numbers were 4-8-11-27-42-43 for the Wednesday drawing.

Megabucks numbers are drawn every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

The Fred Meyer in Warrenton will receive a 1-percent bonus for selling the winning ticket, bringing in $78,000 to the store located off U.S. Highway 101.

Allen is the first player this year to win a Megabucks jackpot.