Newton Man Wins $10,000 Lottery Prize
Erick Zehr Claims Big Prize From Ticket He Received As A Gift
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CLIVE, Iowa - A Newton man scratched off a $10,000 prize on a lottery ticket gifted to him by friends.
"We always kind of give lotto tickets as stocking stuffers or fill-ins for birthday cards and stuff," Eric Zehr, 35, told officials on Wednesday as he claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Clive. "So some family friends of ours lined their Halloween cards to us with scratch tickets. Naturally, they were our first call when we got the win to say, 'Hey, by the way, we're definitely taking you out to dinner.'"
Zehr claimed the third top prize in the Iowa Lottery's "Funny Faces" scratch game. After he and his wife, Tara, scratched the ticket at home, he said their initial reaction was disbelief, followed quickly by lots of shouting and excitement.
"I mean, you never expect to win," said Zehr, whose winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 1501 First Ave. E. in Newton. "So when you make an actual win and it actually is a lot of money, it just takes a while to set in, you know, maybe your five stages of lottery winning, I suppose."
Zehr said he and his wife hadn't yet decided what they'll do with the winnings, but paying off debt and taking a trip were two possibilities.
Funny Faces is a $2 scratch game that features six top prizes of $10,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.22. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com.
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