MONTEZUMA WOMAN WINS $50,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

For media-ready jpeg image of Celest Engelbarts click here.

Celest Engelbarts Wins Top Prize Playing the "Funky 5's" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Montezuma woman won the top prize of $50,000 playing the lottery's "Funky 5's" instant-scratch game.

Celest Engelbarts claimed her winning ticket Friday at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. She bought her winning ticket at Casey's, 409 N. Front St. in Montezuma.

Funky 5's is a $5 scratch game with three different money-themed play areas on each ticket. Prizes in the game range from $5 to $50,000.

Nine top prizes of $50,000 are still up for grabs, as well as more than 375 prizes of $500 and more than 1,500 prizes of $150.

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