Iowa Lottery

Hartley Woman Wins $30,000 Prize Playing Favorite Lottery Game

Ronda Rogne Wins Top Prize Playing "Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear Ronda tell her story.

To download image, right click on image, then navigate to 'Save Picture As' to save this file to your computer. To download digital audio files of this story, right click here, then navigate to "Save Target As" to save this file to your computer.

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Hartley woman said she never dreamed she'd win the top prize of $30,000 playing her favorite lottery scratch game, "Crossword."

Ronda Rogne, 51, said she was elated to discover she'd won the top prize after stopping to pick up a ticket after work.

"I went home and was by myself. I sat down at the table and scratched it off and I got lucky!" Rogne said. "I counted those words a hundred times to make sure I had ten."

Rogne said she was so excited about her win, she visited her husband, Steven, while he was on break at work to tell him the news.

"He couldn't believe it at first," Rogne said. "He said, 'You didn't!'"

Rogne, who works at a daycare center, said she waited several days before claiming her prize Thursday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Storm Lake because she didn't want to take off work to come in.

"The kids are elated; lots of hugs from them. We've just still kind of been on cloud nine," she said.

Rogne said she and Steven plan to use some of the winnings to remodel their home as well as pay some bills and put some into savings.

"I enjoy the scratch tickets," Rogne said. "They're fun and I just got lucky!"

Rogne purchased her winning ticket at Fiesta Foods, 130 Third St. N.E. in Hartley.