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THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - Ann and Barkley Heron have just completed their first year as multimillionaires.

For the Fort Smith couple, winning more than $11 million on Oct. 27 of last year - $11,361,328.30 to be exact - had both positive and negative sides.

Ann Heron stands in front of her new million-dollar home in Fort Smith. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The good was, of course, having millions of dollars.

The bad was having to deal with the problems instant fortune brings, including strained relationships with some relatives and friends.

"The people changed. We didn't. That's what I say," Ann explained.

She said true friends have stuck with the couple.

"For me and Barkley, we haven't changed at all," she said. "We're still the same people."

Ann thinks some of the problems were partly caused by jealousy.

Some people quit talking to them, she said, including one man at her former workplace who said he didn't know how to talk to her because she was in a different category.

"To us, we're not in a different category," Ann said. "We're just the same people living in a small town."

In fact, Ann, who was a benefits officer with the GNWT's Department of Human Resources, had even planned to stay at her job.

"I asked for a year off and they wouldn't give it to me, so I quit," she said.

The Herons still own Rapid Corner Store, and Barkley is also opening a fuel delivery company in a few weeks.

"We keep our lives as close to normal as possible," Barkley said.

Ann was interviewed on Nov. 1 - the first anniversary of when she and her husband received their Lotto 6/49 winnings.

Barkley also offered some comments as he occasionally came indoors while working in the yard of their new $1-million house.

Like other winners of massive lottery jackpots, the Herons have been deluged with letters and calls from people all over Canada.

The requests for money were for a wide variety of things - a trip to Hawaii for an elderly man in Ontario, dental work for a man in B.C. and training support for an Edmonton athlete so he could make it to the Olympics one day, just to name a few.

They were all told no.

"If we had to do it for everyone who asked us, we'd be pretty close to broke," Ann said.

Barkley said investment advisors said they knew of six lottery winners who went broke.

The requests for money are getting fewer as time goes by, he said. "It's dying down. The phone calls are getting less and less."

During the past year, the Herons also had to endure many rumours in Fort Smith.

"It's just unbelievable the stuff that comes up about us," Ann said.

When the rumours get too bad, the couple head to Edmonton or Las Vegas for a break.

However, they have no plans to leave Fort Smith for a more anonymous life elsewhere.

"I really live in Fort Smith by choice," Barkley said, adding he never thought about leaving the community.

Originally from Uranium City, Sask., Ann, 44, has lived in Fort Smith since she was seven. Barkley, 47, was born and raised in the community.

The couple took $1 million each from their winnings to spend as they pleased.

"A million dollars is a lot of money for one person to spend," Ann said.

She made donations to some organizations, such as the Canadian Cancer Society and the Joseph Burr Tyrrell school jiggers, and spent money on other worthy causes.

Plus, all the couple's brothers and sisters received money.

They also built an extension onto the house of Barkley's mother, who didn't want a new house.

And, they also took their nieces and nephews to Disneyland for a week with their parents.

In all, Ann figures they gave away close to $1 million.

She said the couple has about three-quarters of their winnings invested or in the bank.

In late October, they completed a $1-million dream house, where they live with their 24-year-old daughter.

The house is complete with a one-lane bowling alley in the basement.

"We've got what we wanted," Ann said. "We got our dream house."

Aside from their impressive new home, perhaps the most obvious aspect of their wealth is their 14 vehicles, including several sports cars.

Ann gave Barkley a Dodge Viper for Christmas.

After a year, the couple is still adjusting to life as multimillionaires.

"It hasn't really dawned on me yet," Barkley said.

Ann said it probably hit her in December of last year.

She said she was watching a television show on lottery millionaires."I was sitting there and I said, 'Hey, that's us,'" she recalled. "I was home by myself and I just started crying."

They still play Lotto 6/49.

In July, Ann was one number shy of winning a $23-million jackpot.