Iowa Lottery

$30,000 'Happy Birthday' Lottery Prize Goes To Clinton Woman

Lisa Heim Wins Top Prize Playing the "Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear Lisa tell her story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A Clinton woman is celebrating her 41st birthday today with the $30,000 prize she won last week.

Lisa Heim claimed the 28th of 97 top prizes available in the lottery's "Crossword' instant-scratch game. She said she enjoys scratching tickets during her breaks at the Nestlé Purina packaging plant in Clinton where she works third shift.

"The last one I got to was the winner at 5:30 in the morning," Heim said.

Heim couldn't believe her eyes, so she showed the ticket to a couple of her co-workers and asked them to verify she had won.

"They all thought it was fake," Heim said with a laugh.

Heim's co-workers weren't the only people she had to convince; her boyfriend, Brad Ries, also had a hard time believing the news.

"He thought it was a joke," she said. "So after we got off work I said, 'Meet me at Casey's and I'll have it verified.' Stopped there and had it verified and here we are!"

Heim purchased her winning ticket at Casey's, 1107 13th Ave. N. in Clinton. She said she plans to use some of her winnings to make home improvements.

Heim claimed her prize Friday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.

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