Winneshiek County Woman Wins $50,000 Powerball® Prize
Michelle Rothmeyer Wins Large Prize From Dec. 29 Drawing
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CLIVE, Iowa — A Winneshiek County woman has won a $50,000 Powerball prize.
Michelle Rothmeyer of Calmar matched four of five white balls and the Powerball in the Dec. 29 drawing. She was one number away from winning that night's $483 million jackpot.
"I was on my lunch break on Thursday and a friend had messaged, saying that there was a Powerball winner out of the Calmar store," Rothmeyer told officials on Wednesday as she claimed her prize at the Iowa Lottery's Mason City regional office. "So I scanned my ticket and was like, 'Oh, it was me!' It was crazy."
Rothmeyer, 38, purchased her winning ticket at Kwik Star, 205 N. Maryville St. in Calmar. She chose an easy-pick ticket, meaning that the lottery terminal randomly assigns numbers involved.
"I just let the machine pick," she said. "It worked to my advantage this time."
The winning numbers in the Dec. 29 drawing were 2-6-9-33-39 and Powerball 11. The Power Play number was 2.
Rothmeyer said she has definite plans for her winnings.
"We're going to finish paying off our house, and we had planned a vacation already," she said. "We're maybe just going to do it a little more extravagantly."
Players in $2 Powerball choose their first five numbers from a pool of 69, and another number – called the Powerball – from a separate pool of 26. The Power Play option is available for an extra $1 per play.
Since getting its start in April 1992 in 15 states with jackpots that started at a guaranteed $2 million, Powerball has grown into one of the world's biggest and most recognizable lottery games. Today Powerball is played by 48 lotteries across the country with drawings at 9:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
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