A Massachusetts Lottery First in Southwick
— A Southwick Time Machine Historical Curiosity
In 1971, Massachusetts lawmakers approved the creation of a state lottery, an ambitious effort designed to provide local aid to all 351 cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
The following spring, that idea became reality with the promise that ordinary people might suddenly find themselves extraordinarily lucky. On March 22, 1972, the first ticket for “The Game” was sold. Just weeks later, on April 6, the first drawing took place at Boston’s Faneuil Hall, where seven winners each claimed $50,000.
On October 3, 1972, the Massachusetts Lottery held its seventh “Million Dollar Game.” The drawing took place at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, where more than a hundred finalists from every New England state except Vermont gathered, each hoping their name would be called for the top prize: $1 million, paid in annual installments of $50,000 over twenty years.
Alongside the million-dollar prize were additional tiers of winnings, including $100,000, paid out in annual installments of $10,000 over ten years for the second-place winner. Eight people would get $10,000 each, and the remaining participants would get a consolation prize of $500.
Among the finalists were Joseph and Margaret Fouli, an elderly couple, who had just purchased a home in Southwick in late 1971. Both husband and wife had winning tickets that advanced them to the final drawing. It was such a strange coincidence that it drew widespread attention from the general public, as it was the first time in the game’s short history that a married couple had both qualified. The idea of a husband and wife competing side by side for life-changing money had propelled the Foulis into local celebrities as they rooted for each other while also holding out their own hopes of winning.
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| Joseph and Margaret Fouli |
Unfortunately for the Foulis, the winning name belonged to Mrs. Anna Popek of Millville, Massachusetts, who became the state’s seventh million-dollar lottery winner. Presented on the spot with her first $50,000 check, she famously declined an offer to stay in the Sheraton’s luxurious Presidential Suite, preferring instead to return home and celebrate with her family. At the time, she had been earning $75 a week working as a rug dyer in a Uxbridge, Massachusetts, mill. After her win, she immediately quit, and her husband, a weaver, retired.
Just a few weeks before her big win, Anna’s husband opened a box of Cracker Jack. Inside was a fortune slip that read: “A girl you know is going to win an awful lot of money.”
Like the other finalists whose names were not drawn, Joseph and Margaret each received a $500 consolation prize, but the Foulis retained something far rarer: the distinction of having shared in one of the lottery’s most improbable coincidences.
— Uncovered and preserved by the Southwick Time Machine
Joseph Fouli
May 24, 1897 - April 6, 1981
Margaret (Kane) Fouli
January 8, 1903 - January 5, 1998
This article is based on original primary-source research, including but not limited to official documents and records, census data, and period newspapers. Southwick Time Machine stories are living documents. Research is ongoing, and this account may evolve as new information comes to light.
The photographs accompanying this story are authentic, unless
otherwise noted. In keeping with historical preservation standards, some
of the images may have been digitally enhanced for clarity and detail,
without
altering the original subjects.
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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
- Some sources list the number of finalists in the October 3, 1972 Million Dollar Game as 110; however, other accounts report 105 participants.
- The Fouli family had previously lived on Cobble Mountain Road in Blandford before moving to Southwick.
- Some address discrepancies appear in records, including references to 417, 141, and 16 Feeding Hills Road. (1982 - Barnaby). 1999: Vanasse and Lees purchased it from Margaret’s trust.
- Margaret sometimes went by Maggie. Her maiden name was Kane.
- The couple’s daughter, Reverend Anna Mae (Fouli) Ball, served as pastor of the Westfield Advent Christian Church. She passed away in 1997.
- Their daughter, Davina Teresa Fouli, married William Paul Burns on New Year’s Day 1948.
- Their son, James J. Fouli, died on August 21, 1999. Some sources list him as James T., and others as James J. They had another son, Andrew F. Fouli.
- Joseph Fouli, a native of Foppa, Italy, had served in the United States Army during the end of World War I. He officially entered the military on September 4, 1918, and was released on December 18, 1918. (When drafted in August 1918, he was shipped off to Camp Greenleaf. He was returned on August 27 when it was determined that the draft quota for that camp was filled without him.)
- Joseph had been living in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, where he worked in a mill for the Phoenix Woolen Company, near the Orcuttville section of town. The first mill on the site was built in 1838. The Phoenix Woolen Co. bought it in 1868. It was purchased in 1934 by the Swift River Woolen Company. Over the years, the mill made fabrics for Navy overcoats, cloth for billiard tables and automobile interiors, and eventually women’s wear.
- About age 45, Joseph was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 135 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair, and light skin.
- Margaret Fouli remained in Southwick for many years after, passing away in 1998.
- Joseph and Margaret are buried in Southwick.
Close Calls, Tragedy Strikes
Military Draft
Joseph Fouli had narrowly missed military service at the tail end of World War I, drafted in 1918 but returned home when his assigned camp had already filled its quota. (He officially entered the military on September 4, 1918, and was
released on December 18, 1918. When drafted in August 1918, he was
shipped off to Camp Greenleaf. He was returned on August 27 when it was
determined that the draft quota for that camp was filled without him.)
Hurricane
The Foulis lucked out in 1951. While driving through Maryland on their way home from Florida, they found themselves in a hurricane and rising floodwaters. They found shelter in a gas station on top of a hill.
Terrible Tragedy
In the years that followed, the Foulis' fame faded, but their names
would return to the news under far different circumstances. Joseph
Fouli, who had worked for the Huntington Textile Company on Russell
Street in Huntington and later at the Texon Company in nearby Russell,
had built a life rooted in the region. On December 11, 1976, their
grandson, Russell J. Fouli, a native of Westfield, was among four people
who lost their lives when a fire tore through a trailer on Prospect
Street in Huntington, around 3:00 a.m. He was just sixteen years old, a native of Westfield. All
four victims, three of which were teenagers, died from smoke inhalation.
Warren Petroleum Disaster (1951)
In 1951, while returning home from Florida, Joseph and Margaret Fouli passed through New Jersey and encountered a massive industrial fire at the Warren Petroleum Sales Corporation’s liquefied petroleum storage facility, where roughly 100 gas fill tanks exploded in spectacular fashion.
In the blasts, cylindrical tanks measuring about 70 feet in length and 10 feet in diameter were hurled hundreds of yards through the air, many shot upward like rockets. The tanks contained an estimated 500,000 cubic feet of propane.
The fire burned so hot that firemen had to keep back some 400 feet from the fire’s edge.
Fires spread rapidly beyond the facility. A gasoline station nearly three-quarters of a mile away was struck by a flying tank. It caught fire and was destroyed. Nearby buildings were leveled, and railcars full of fuel ignited and exploded.
Initial damage estimates were placed at approximately $3 million. The event was widely regarded at the time as one of the most severe industrial explosions on record.
The Foulis, having just driven through the area, witnessed the scale of the destruction firsthand.
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