MASON CITY – A Mason City woman says she can cut back on the number of hours she works each day after claiming a big lottery prize this week.
Allison Pope, 23, said she currently works about 12 hours a day between two jobs – a convenience store clerk and a waitress at a local restaurant – but after winning $30,000 playing the lottery that may change.
“I’ve always had big dreams of getting a big winner like this,” Pope told lottery employees Wednesday as she claimed her prize at the lottery’s regional office in Mason City.
Pope claimed the 40th of 91 top prizes of $30,000 available in the Iowa Lottery’s “Bonus Crossword” scratch game. She said she bought her winning ticket Saturday at Casey’s, 2701 19th St. SW in Mason City.
She said she didn’t see the game’s top prize right away.
“I went home and I was scratching off the ticket and I saw that I had nine words crossed off so I realized I won $3,000 and I was super excited,” Pope said.
However, when Pope had her ticket verified at a local lottery retailer the next day, she found out she actually won the game’s $30,000 top prize.
“The lady handed the ticket back to me. I was shaking. She was like, ‘Are you going to pass out?’” she said.
Pope said she plans to use a majority of her winnings to pay bills and save the rest.
Bonus Crossword is a $3 scratch game.
