Iowa Lottery

New Hampton Man Wins Grand Prize In Lottery's 'Great State Tailgate' Promotion

Tricked-Out Trailer Will Provide Ultimate Tailgating Experience

  Hear Jeff tell his story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A New Hampton man got one of the biggest birthday gifts of his life Friday when the Iowa Lottery presented him with the towable trailer that was the grand prize in the lottery's "Great State Tailgate" promotion.

Jeff Weigel, who turned 51 on Friday, rushed out the front door at K&W Motors in New Hampton where he works as lottery staff pulled in with his new trailer valued at more than $22,000. The lottery had selected Weigel's entry as the promotion's grand-prize winner during the Great State Tailgate drawing on Thursday.

"This is cool! I'll put it to good use," Weigel said. "I've got a lot of family and friends. It will draw an attraction no matter where I'm at!"

In addition to Weigel's trailer, five other Iowa Lottery players won prizes of $1,000 each in the promotion drawing Thursday. Lottery players had entered more than 94,000 tickets in the promotion during the entry period from Aug. 29 through Tuesday.

The lottery delivered Weigel's trailer in a presentation complete with balloon bouquets and streamers. The grand-prize package also includes a $2,000 cash prize allowing Weigel to customize the artwork on the outside of the trailer, and as a lifelong Iowa fan, he said he plans to outfit it for the Hawkeyes.

"My daughter went to Iowa and graduated from there, so we've made a lot of games. I know that even in their up and down years, I'm a Hawk fan," he said. "When my daughter was in college, we'd go down to Iowa City almost every home game because she lived right down there. Now we can do whatever we want!"

The tailgate trailer came fully equipped with:

• 42-inch LCD HDTV with a cable receiver and HD auto satellite antennae
• SONY® theater system with iPOD® Direct Connect
• Hitch-mounted tailgating gas grill and 54-qt. cooler on full slide system
• 1000W portable generator
• 30 AMP electrical panel box
• $2,000 cash for customizing the trailer, for travel and spending money

"Iowans love to celebrate and support their favorite team by socializing with friends before a game, and we had a ball talking about tailgating throughout the fall," Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said.

Weigel said that until this week, he'd never thought he'd be a big prize winner.

"I never win anything," he said with a laugh. "I think my luck's changing."

The five Iowa Lottery players who won $1,000 prizes in Thursday's drawing are:

• Ashley Black of Salix
• James Doeden of Ankeny
• Ricky Eid of Fort Madison
• Blain Fjetland of Clear Lake
• Sally Schueler of Waterloo