A Fortunate

Man

Member Bob Nordstrom has hit the jackpot in more ways than one.

When Bob Nordstrom walked

into the San Pablo Lytton Casino, he immediately spotted a slot machine with a big “5” on it.

“I though it was a nickel

slot and put in a $20 bill,

because I figured I’d be

there a while,” said

Nordstrom, a meat  cutter at Safeway 595 in Concord.

“I won $10 on the first

spin. When I spun again, all the lights started flashing and whistles blowing. I didn’t know

what was going on. I thought I broke the

machine.” What he

really broke was the bank.

    Nordstrom won $75,000, the machine’s highest jackpot.     Everyone started running over to me,” he recalled. “I was dumbfounded.

I couldn’t believe

it.” Nordstrom sat down to play at 11 p.m. He wasn’t able to leave the casino until 6 a.m.

“They had to call

someone in from Vacaville to check out the machine,

and I had to fill out all this paperwork,” he said. “My wife was at home asleep and had no idea of what was going on.”

    When Nordstrom got

home and told his wife,

Kerri, what happened, she initially didn’t believe him.

“She was curious as to

why I was out all night,” he said.

    “Boy, did I have

a good excuse.” Nordstrom was supposed to be at work the next day and

went in as scheduled.

“I was running on pure

adrenaline,” he said. “All my coworkers

were as excited as I was.”

    Nordstrom, who has

been at Safeway for 17

years, says he also won

“jackpots” in the form of his family and his Union job.

    “I love my job and I love my Union benefits,” he said. “With four kids, those

Union-negotiated health

benefits really come in

handy. “You can’t beat the pay,

job protection and benefits

we have. That’s why I plan

to stay until I’m ready to

retire.”

    Nordstrom used his winnings to buy a Toyota 4Runner for himself and a Dodge Ram for Kerri.

“I put the rest of the

money away for our four

children,” he said.

    A month after Nordstrom

hit the jackpot at San Pablo

he won another $50. A few

months later, he won $5,000 at the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln.

    “Whenever I play, all of

my friends want to go with

me,” he said. “They think

my luck will rub off on

them.”

Official publication of UFCW 8-Golden State Jacques Loveall, President