PLYMOUTH, Wis. (AP) – Many cheese company workers returned to their jobs Monday, although they said they were part of a group of about 100 workers who won a $208.6 million Powerball jackpot.

Andrea Fink, 26, of Sheboygan, said she arrived early for her second shift Monday afternoon at Sargento Foods to talk with other winners about what to do. But she said she didn’t plan to leave her job, which she has held for six years. “I’m too young to retire,” she said.

Fink, who found out the group won Sunday, said she planned to take a lump sum rather than annual payments and intends to buy a house.

“I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe it. It just seems unreal,” she said.

Sargento chief executive officer Lou Gentine said he met with the most of the winners and some other employees Monday afternoon before they started work, and the gathering was full of applause.

“To see the joy on their faces, it’s just incredible,” he said. “We’re really happy for them.”

Gentine said the winning ticket had been turned over to an attorney and had not been verified by the Wisconsin Lottery.

The CEO of the family-owned packager of shredded, snack, specialty cheeses and other snack foods said he gave the winners the option of leaving Monday, saying he did not want to jeopardize their safety if they were preoccupied. But he said he believed the majority would stay for their shift.

A few had called earlier Monday, saying they would not report to work for the day, he said.

The winners are different ages and do a variety of jobs, such as cutting and shredding cheese, loading trucks and performing maintenance, Gentine said. He said their average salaries range between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.

The majority of the 100 employees work on the second shift, but some work on the third shift and reported to work Sunday night, Gentine said.

The company will make financial advisers available to the winners, he said.

Gentine said he was not concerned that a lot of employees would leave.

“We are happy to have, absolutely, everyone stay if they want do,” he said.

Theresa Hermann, 52, of Glenbeulah, said she hopes to take her grandchildren to Walt Disney World and do some work on her house. She said she planned to stay at Sargento, where she’s worked for six years.

“This is the most exciting day,” she said. “There will be a lot of tears. I like my job and I love the people.”

Colleen Sumner, 51, Crystal Lake, said she was not sure if she will keep on working at Sargento, where she has been employed for nearly 19 years.

“It’s going to help how many different families. It’s super. It’s a lot better than one person winning,” she said.

The winning numbers drawn Saturday night were 2, 3, 9, 48 and 50 and the Powerball was 23.

The jackpot is the largest in Wisconsin history, Wisconsin Lottery spokeswoman Jessica Iverson said. Previously, the largest jackpot won in the state had been a Powerball jackpot worth $195 million, bought by an Illinois couple in May 1998.

Iverson said the $208.6 million could be paid in 30 installments. But she said the winner or winners could choose a lump sum payment, which she said would be $95.8 million. Both those figures are before taxes, Iverson said.

The winning ticket for a jackpot of that size has to be submitted at lottery headquarters in Madison, she said.

State law requires that payment be made to a single winner unless a court order is obtained, Iverson said. Then multiple winners could choose individually whether to receive a lump sum or get the larger amount spread over 30 payments, the lottery spokeswoman said.

The winning ticket was sold at Ma and Pa’s Grocery Express in Fond du Lac along the so-called “Miracle Mile.” South Main Street earned that nickname because several stores sold multimillion-dollar tickets during the 1990s.

Ma and Pa’s – which will receive $100,000 – sold a winning Megabucks ticket worth $6.5 million in 1994 and has sold winning tickets for $500,000, $250,000 and $100,000 too, among others.

A sign out front Monday proclaimed the store sold the latest winning Powerball ticket.

Pat Moses, who owns Ma and Pa’s with her son Phil, said Wisconsin Lottery officials and some Sargento representatives visited the store Monday.

Moses said is mystified as to how the store can turn out so many winners.

“I can’t still believe it,” she said. “It’s almost spooky, like the Bermuda Triangle where there’s that magnetism.”

Store employee Mike Forsyth said he split a $138,000 jackpot with Phil several years ago and said about a month ago he won a $64,000 jackpot that he split with someone else.

Powerball is played in 29 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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