I usually write all of my lottery posts, but this one…I loved. It is from the Kingston Freeman, a newspaper where I was an editor for more than a year.

This is Woodstock (that of the festival) country, along the Hudson River.

I was thrilled to hear they just had a big winner.

Below, the story:

PAUL Leone Jr. has reason to celebrate.

Three million reasons, actually.

Leone, a 52-year-old Woodstock resident, has been identified as the $3 million jackpot winner in the state’s Sept. 2 Lotto drawing.

Leone, who is self-employed as a graphic designer, was introduced as the winner on Saturday during the 10th Annual Arlington Street Fair in Poughkeepsie and was presented with an oversized check by state Lottery Division spokeswoman Yolanda Vega.

Leone said in a prepared statement that he had his 82-year-old mother, Dorothy, to thank for his good fortune.

“My mother actually bought the tickets for me,” he said. “And she’s the one that checked the numbers and called my to say I won. It was all Mom.”

The winning ticket was bought on Sept. 2 in the Stewart’s Shop in Saugerties, where Leone’s mother regularly buys game tickets. Leone himself just began playing lottery games this past summer.

Leone claimed his $3 million prize — which will be smaller when taxes are taken out — on Sept. 14, according to the Lottery Division. He said he waited a while before claiming the prize so that he could “gather as much information as possible on investing this kind of money.”

Leone, a bachelor, said in the prepared statement that he doesn’t expect the money to lead to any major changes in his life.

“I am happy with my life,” he said. “I love the people around me. I’ll continue to do what I’ve been doing, knowing that my future is taken care of. It’s a secure feeling.”

Leone is the first Ulster County resident this year to win a state lottery prize valued at more than $1 million, according to the Lottery Division.

Leone’s winning Lotto ticket was bought with the Quick Pick method, meaning his mother had the lottery computer at Stewart’s choose the numbers.

The six winning numbers in the Sept. 2 Lotto drawing were 23, 24, 30, 35, 45 and 54. The Leone ticket was the only one to match all six.