Army Veteran From Howard County Wins Free Trip To Florida Through Maryland Lottery

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — An Army veteran from Columbia recently won a trip to Marco Island courtesy of the Maryland Lottery.

Anthony Cassort 2nd will be headed to Florida after he was chosen as the winner of the My Lottery Rewards Marco Island Beach Resort Vacation Points for Drawings Promotion earlier this month.

My Lottery Rewards is the Maryland Lottery’s rewards program. Non-winning scratch-offs, winning and non-winning draw games and FAST PLAY tickets can be entered to earn points. Some of those points can then be used to enter promotions to win prizes such as vacations, tech packages, gift cards and more.

Cassort said he has entered various promotions through the years and has even won a couple prior to the big vacation win. In the past, he has won a laptop and scratch-off tickets, but he was stunned when he found out he had been selected for the trip.

“I had my eye on that prize. I was pretty elated when I received that call,” he said.

The Howard County resident's prize includes:

• A four-day/three-night stay at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Florida;
• Breakfast daily;
• One round of golf or a 60-minute spa treatment; and
• Roundtrip airfare and airport transfers.

He also gets to bring his wife as his guest, who he said loves the beach. They haven't been on vacation since before the pandemic.

“I’m looking forward to some R&R (rest and relaxation),” said the 53-year-old.