Rod Boshart, CR Gazette –
Iowa Lottery officials on Thursday announced the names of 34 lottery players who each won prizes of $10,000 in the “Mystery Millionaire” drawing, while another 15 players were selected for a finale event later this month at the Iowa State Fair with a chance to win up to $1 million.
More than 197,000 tickets were purchased in the promotion before the entry deadline passed at noon on Tuesday, lottery officials said. The Mystery Millionaire promotion — which will culminate in a live give-away show on Aug. 19, the final day of the 2012 Iowa State Fair — gave lottery players the chance to win prizes ranging from $10,000 up to $1 million, money that came from two big jackpots that expired without being claimed during the past year.
One of the unclaimed jackpots – a Hot Lotto prize won with a ticket purchased in Des Moines – generated headlines when lawyers representing a trust turned in the winning ticket with less than two hours to go before the big prize would have expired, but ultimately withdrew the claim in late January. An even bigger prize – a $77 million Powerball jackpot won in Georgia – also expired without being claimed.
The money from those unclaimed jackpots went back to the individual lotteries that sold the games in proportion to the percentage of sales that came from each state. Iowa’s share was a total of about $2 million.
The 15 semifinalists who will attend the live event at the Fair each will receive four State Fair admission tickets, two parking passes, a hotel stay for two, admission for two to an exclusive dinner Aug. 18, and spending cash, according to a lottery news release.
Lottery officials said that the first 1,000 audience members to check in Aug. 19 at the live show site on the fair’s grand concourse will receive tickets to attend the giveaway, and 15 audience members will win prizes from $250 to $1,000 during the 1 p.m. finale event. The retailers whose locations sold the winning tickets to the 15 players at the live give-away also will win prizes ranging from $500 to $2,000.
These 15 players were selected in the promotion drawing to participate in the State Fair event where each will win a prize from $25,000 up to $1 million: Thuan Dufferof Des Moines, Betty Freilinger of Monona, Joseph Holmes of Muscatine, Janese Hopkins of Cedar Rapids, Kathy Kasner of Ferguson, Kandy Lorimer of Fairfax, Allison Martin of Cedar Falls, Brenda Mertens of Vinton, Chuck Noty of Garner, Elena Reddersdorf of Eldridge, Kevin Reynolds of Bettendorf, Richard Ritze of Alburnett, Douglas Steenson of Waukee, Dean Stuhr of Des Moines, Sheree Watson of Charles City.
Another 34 players were selected as winners of a $10,000 prize each in Thursday’s drawing. They are: Frank Anderson of Clinton, Diane Bales of Cedar Rapids, Judy Bauer of Walker, Tim Brooks of Goldfield, Terry Bryant of Pleasant Hill, Rick Charbonneau of Logan, Doug Conner of Wausaukee, Wis., Gary Dezell of Atkins, Judy Fox of Waterloo, Louis Harvey of Ottumwa, Debbra Hebert of Solon, Ronald Huber of Delhi, Patty Laire of Elliott, Debra Lamar of Bettendorf, Janice Megel of Des Moines, Charlie Miller of Bouton, Billie Mims of Cedar Rapids, J C Nobbe of Rockwell City, Linda Northouse of Des Moines, Ricky Peterson of Fort Dodge, Tim Rau of Council Bluffs, Norm Roller of Yetter, Chad Sadler of Hopkinton, Sarah Scogin of Waterloo, Gayle Seehusen of Cedar Rapids, Darwin Stock of Waverly, Harve Sultan of Davenport, James Temple of South Point, Ohio, Kathryn Van Brocklin of Lansing, Nancy Vincent of Story City, Katie Vriezelaar of Urbandale, Martin Wadle of Algona, Jennifer Winn of Hawarden, and Amee Wyatt of Farmington.
