Iowa Lottery

Waucoma Woman Gets To Share Excitement Of Winning With Her Coworker

Phyllis Dilley Wins Top Prize of $30,000 Playing the "Holiday Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear Phyllis tell her story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A Waucoma woman said she was in shock when she won a top prize of $30,000 playing the lottery's "Holiday Crossword" instant-scratch game, but everyone around her was very excited.

Phyllis Dilley, 61, was with a coworker at Moore's Foods, 303 Iowa Highway 150 N. in West Union when she scratched the ticket.

"We waited until we got up to the cash register because she said, 'Oh, I think you've got eight words!' And I knew I had ten," Dilley said. "So when they ran it through she got excited, the gal that ran it through got excited, I don't know if I really got that excited or not."

Dilley couldn't wait to get home to tell her husband, Patrick.

"He already knew; my ex-sister-in-law had called. I don't think I got to tell anybody," Dilley said with a laugh as she claimed her prize Friday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Mason City.

Dilley, who is a cook at a bakery in West Union, said she is planning to use some of her winnings to purchase new appliances.

"My kitchen's getting a makeover," she said.

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