An owner of a Gainesville business won $1 million after purchasing a lottery ticket at Granny’s Country Store on Dawsonville Highway.

Gary Smith, owner of Chestatee Boat Docks in Gainesville, won the top prize in the Georgia Lottery’s Extreme Green game, according to a news release from the Georgia Lottery.

Smith, 52, is the 16th person to win $1 million in the game since tickets first went on sale in January 2009, and the second person to win $1 million on the game in Gainesville, said Kimberly Lundy, a media relations specialist with the lottery.

Smith told lottery officials he purchased his lucky ticket next door to his business at Granny’s Country Store, located at 4820 Dawsonville Highway in Gainesville. He was in the store’s parking lot when he scratched it.

“I had to sit there for a minute,” he said in a news release.

In business for 28 years, the father of three plans to invest his winnings, the news release said. He and his wife, Deborah, also have three grandchildren.

“I’m sure my wife and I will go to Aruba,” he added.

All Georgia Lottery profits go to specific educational programs including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.2 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.

The Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $11.4 billion to the state for education, according to the news release.

Smith did not return a call from The Times seeking comment.