AN EARLY MORNING WIN STUNS DECORAH WOMAN

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Raedene Quandahl Wins Top Prize of $30,000 Playing the "Tropical Treasures" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Decorah woman took a few minutes before beginning her 5 a.m. shift at work to scratch a "Tropical Treasures" scratch ticket and ended up winning the top prize.

Raedene Quandahl, 51, said she couldn't hold in her excitement when she discovered the $30,000 prize.

"I had to look at it like, for five minutes, and I went wild!" she said.

Quandahl said her co-workers at Acument Global Technologies were jealous of her win, but were excited as well.

"The gal that I work with had just bought one right before me. But they're happy for me," Quandahl laughed.

Quandahl is actually only the second top-prize winner in the Tropical Treasures game. She said she chose that game because she had played it before and won a small prize.

Quandahl said she plans to use some of her winnings to pay bills and have a little fun, and then put the rest in savings.

Quandahl purchased her winning ticket at Kwik Star, 905 S. Short St. in Decorah and claimed her prize Monday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Mason City.

Tropical Treasures is a $3 game. Players uncover the "Treasure Map Coordinates" and the corresponding squares on the "Treasure Map." If they reveal three like symbols, they win the prize shown in the "Legend." Overall odds of winning in the game are 1 in 3.51.

Six top prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Tropical Treasures, as well as 51 prizes of $1,000, more than 345 prizes of $150 and more than 555 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.