LOTTERY CAMPAIGN BECOMES CATCHY, WILD AND HISTORIC

For a media-ready jpeg image of the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium click here.

Dubuque Attraction Offers Two Free Adult Admissions To Iowa Powerball® Players.

Additional Offers Include the Zoo, Living History Farms, Country Bash and More.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The second money savings package of "Keep your Iowa Powerball ticket handy" offers for Iowans is available starting Wednesday at 10 p.m. The headliner offer allows Iowans to receive two free adult admissions to the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, the latest featured attraction to make special offers as part of the statewide "Experience Iowa" travel campaign.

The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is the second of eight featured attractions in the summer travel initiative from the Iowa Lottery and Iowa Tourism Office and was one of many built using Vision Iowa monies. The idea behind the Experience Iowa project with its "Keep Your Powerball Ticket Handy" slogan is to encourage people to travel the state, go to Iowa attractions and businesses and give the entire state a boost in these tough economic times.

Nancy Landess, manager of the Iowa Tourism Office, called the initiative "something we all can take part in to help our entire state weather the current economic storm.

"We think this project is unique in the United States in terms of state entities, private businesses and local fairs and festivals all working together to try to drive the state’s economy," she said.

To take advantage of the offer from the museum and aquarium as well as additional "bonus" discounts from other attractions, Iowa Powerball players who have a nonwinning ticket from the drawing on Wednesday (May 6) can log onto the lottery Web site at www.ialottery.com, print off a coupon there starting Thursday, attach their nonwinning ticket and then present the coupon to the participating attraction or business to receive the special deal. This latest round of offers will be available through Saturday.

The free admissions to the museum and aquarium are a total value worth $21. The Dubuque attraction features six large aquariums and exhibits that include giant catfish, turtles, otters, ducks, frogs, reptiles and the history of America's most famous river, the Mississippi River. Interactive exhibits and living history demonstrations bring its river-front campus to life. The facility also includes a riverboat museum, boatyard, wetland and a refurbished train depot.

As news about the travel initiative has spread, other Iowa events and businesses also have decided to make special, unadvertised bonus offers to Iowa Powerball players. So, starting Thursday, players also can visit the lottery's Web site to find out how they can use their nonwinning Powerball tickets to receive:

Mother's Day celebration specials include:

• One free adult admission to Blank Park Zoo valid May 7 – 10.
• $10 in savings on a Blank Park Zoo Family Membership Pass valid May 7 – 15.
• One free adult admission to Living History Farms valid May 10.

Additional bonus offers include:

• Save $7.50 on Big Country Bash tickets, regularly priced at $27.50. The event is Sunday, June 28, and features Tracy Lawrence and John Michael Montgomery, among others.
• One free 20-ounce fountain drink at U-Stop convenience stores in Council Bluffs, Minden and Crescent valid May 7 – July 10.
• One free Powerball ticket when you purchase five Iowa Lottery scratch tickets at The Cigarette Outlet in Cedar Rapids, Fort Madison, Marion, Muscatine, Ottumwa and Washington. Offer valid May 7 – July 1.

Powerball ticket holders must use one ticket per coupon, or select which offer they wish to use.

The special offers being made through the Experience Iowa initiative will change with each Powerball drawing. A new round of offers will start Sunday, with nonwinning Powerball tickets from Saturday's drawing eligible for those discounts. The next round of offers won't be announced until after Saturday's drawing, so Powerball players can check back at the lottery Web site then to learn more.

Lottery CEO Terry Rich said, "It's all designed to help you save money while you get out and enjoy Iowa this summer.

"The idea behind the project is that Iowa Powerball players can receive more than the purchase price of their tickets back in value."

The lottery-tourism project will continue through May and June, with discounts from other featured attractions to include Riverboat Twilight, which offers riverboat trips from Le Claire to Dubuque; King's Pointe Waterpark Resort in Storm Lake; Iowa Marriott Hotels at special participating locations; Pzazz/FunCity amusement park in Burlington; Adventureland amusement park in Altoona; Iowa Speedway in Newton; and Honey Creek Resort near Lake Rathbun in south-central Iowa.