A northeast Iowa woman won a $50,000 prize just two days before her planned retirement.
The Iowa Lottery says 67-year-old Rhonda Larson, of the Howard County town of Chester, won a top prize in the “Scratch, Match & Win” scratch game. She bought her winning ticket at Route 63 Travel Plaza in Chester and scratched it when she got home.
When she uncovered a $50,000 prize on her ticket, Larson said she did a double-take, “I was in shock. I sent a picture to my youngest daughter and said, ‘I think I won some money.’ She looked at it and she says, ‘Mom, you just won $50,000!’ It still doesn’t seem real.”
Larson said she feels especially lucky with the timing of her win, coming just days before she retires from the cleaning business she started. She plans to put some of her winnings toward a kitchen remodel.
When Larson claimed her prize Tuesday (12.30) at the lottery’s Mason City regional office, she said, “Everything just seems to fall in place.”
Scratch, Match & Win is a $5 scratch game inspired by the Iowa Lottery’s very first scratch game from 1985, with the nostalgic game offering players a chance to win one of eight top prizes of $50,000.
