Fortune Cookie Prediction Comes True For Dubuque County Man With $250,000 Lottery Prize
Charlie Schueller Claims Top Prize In '$250,000 Riches' Scratch Game
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CLIVE, Iowa – A Dubuque County man's fortune cookie came true to the tune of $250,000.
Charlie "Chuck" Schueller of Epworth had stopped for lunch last week and along with his Chinese meal came a fortune cookie with a bold prediction for his future.
"I got one of the fortune cookies and it said that I was going to come into financial stability," explained Schueller to lottery staff as he claimed his prize Friday. "Here I am collecting $250,000."
Schueller, 43, purchased his winning ticket at Quik 'N Handi, 206 S. Center Ave. in Epworth and went out to his truck to scratch his ticket.
"I started scratching it off and I got on to the last column on the $20 ticket and I didn't get anything yet. I got down a couple more and I saw a '52' and that's what I needed to match and thought, 'Oh, OK. I'll at least get my money back,'" said Schueller. "Well then I scratched the money off on it and it was $250,000."
Schueller, who works in construction, claimed the 14th of 18 top prizes of $250,000 available in the Iowa Lottery's "$250,000 Riches" scratch game and shared the news with others who had a hard time believing him.
"At first they didn't believe me. They thought I was playing a joke on them. And I said, 'No. This is no April Fools' joke. It's real,'" he said. "I even took a picture of it and showed them and they still didn't believe it."
Schueller said he plans to use this opportunity to further his own business, "Schueller Power Washing, Scrap Metal & Snow Plowing."
"I power wash houses and equipment and stuff. And then I plow snow in the wintertime. I pick up scrap metal and cut grass," he said.
The $250,000 Riches scratch game is a $20 ticket. More details about how to play this game, and number of prizes still up for grabs in it can be found on the Iowa Lottery's website, www.ialottery.com.
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