Iowa Lottery

Hardin County Woman Gets $30,000 Surprise From Her Boyfriend

Virginia Hoversten Wins the Top Prize Playing "Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear Virginia tell her story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A Hardin County woman was never expecting to win a $30,000 prize when her boyfriend came home from the grocery store with milk and a few "Crossword" instant-scratch tickets.

Virginia Hoversten, 36, said her boyfriend stopped to pick up milk on his way home and picked her up a few Crossword tickets as well.

"I said, 'Why don't you scratch one?' And he said he didn't like that kind, so I scratched all three of them," Hoversten said. "The second one was looking pretty good. And I kept going and I got ten words!"

Hoversten, who is from Alden, said she doesn't play scratch tickets very often, so she was in total shock that she'd won the top prize.

"I screamed and called my mom right away," she said.

Hoversten said she also called her sister to tell her the good news and everyone was very excited for her.

"I just thought, 'This isn't real,'" Hoversten said.

Hoversten, who is a front desk clerk for Super 8, said she plans to use some of her winnings to pay bills and plans to save the rest.

Hoversten claimed her prize Feb. 2 at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Mason City. She purchased her winning ticket at at Casey's, 2721 Dows Williams Road in Dows.