Iowa Has 2 of the 5 Finalists Nationwide For $1 Million Prize In Powerball New Year's Drawing
The Winner Will Be Selected Just After Midnight EST Jan. 1
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Production Notes: High-definition video of today's event will be available by 2:30 p.m. today to download from the Iowa Lottery's Dropbox account. To request access to this video, please email the lottery at wmaster@ialottery.com and provide an email address for your news organization.
Call-in Number: A conference line will be available for members of the media who want to cover the event remotely. That Uberconference number is 515-206-9299. The conference line will open about 11:20 a.m. Wednesday.
JPEG image: Available by 11:30 a.m. today at https://www.ialottery.com/images/PressReleases/Winners/2021/PR120121PBallSpecialDrawing-Iowa.jpg.
Digital audio from interviews with Beenken and Long are available at: https://media.ialottery.com/mp3files/2021/120121NYE-Iowa-Beenken.mp3
and https://media.ialottery.com/mp3files/2021/120121NYE-Iowa-Long.mp3.
CLIVE, Iowa - Iowa has two of the five nationwide finalists for a $1 million prize that will be awarded in a special Powerball® drawing just after midnight in the New Year.
The winner will be announced live on air just after midnight EST during ABC's broadcast of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022" from New York's Time Square.
This is the third year for the Powerball First Millionaire of the Year® promotion, and the first time that a single state has had more than one of the finalists for the $1 million prize.
Iowa's finalists have two very different stories. Shari Beenken of Titonka, a Kossuth County community of about 500, entered Powerball tickets in the drawing she purchased on her own, while Rob Long of Waterloo entered tickets he bought on behalf of a group of his co-workers, friends and family who pool their money to buy tickets. He calls the group Lotto 22.
With two players in the running, Iowa has a 40 percent chance of having the $1 million winner. The other finalists for the prize are from Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.
Beenken, 57, an office administrator at an Algona business, said she was a bit in shock when she learned she was one of the finalists.
"My heart was just beating and I started to have tears in my eyes and it's like, 'Oh, my word! Oh, my word!' You know, it's just a dream!" she said.
Long, 50, a warehouse associate in Waterloo, also was shocked by the news, but then had fun telling the members of his group about their luck.
"A lot of them didn't know I was doing it," he said. "I loved the surprise on their faces. I think the biggest thing for me was the surprise on everybody's face and how happy they were that we have the opportunity to be where we're at on this."
Iowa and 28 other lotteries in the Powerball game participated in this year's edition of the First Millionaire of the Year promotion, which allowed players to enter their Powerball tickets for a chance at more winnings. Iowa Lottery players were able to enter tickets into the promotion back in September, and on Sept. 30, the Iowa Lottery selected 20 of them (including Beenken and Long) as preliminary winners of $2,500 each.
Those 20 Iowa winners along with the preliminary winners from the other lotteries in the promotion were all then entered into a random drawing that determined the five finalists for the $1 million prize. And Iowa ended up with two of the five.
For being selected as a finalist, each will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a home party package also valued at $10,000, including a 70-inch LED TV, karaoke system, premium laptop computer, and deluxe dinner for eight.
Beenken said this New Year's Eve may be the longest of her life.
"I'm probably going to be on pins and needles! And it's like, 'Okay, come on, let's just draw this! Let's go!'" she said with a laugh. "It should be a good evening. It should be fun no matter what."
Long said that a member of his group and his wife helped him hold a drawing from amongst the group to determine who would win the merchandise portion of the finalist prize package. The group is evenly splitting the $10,000 cash prize.
"We put everybody's name in a bowl and we drew the names and that's how we came out with the prizes," he said. "I was pretty excited, I even got one. You know, my luck keeps continuing!"
Beenken said that she and her husband, Rod, have thought a lot about what they would do with the $1 million prize.
"You know, we won't talk about it for the longest time, my husband and I won't, and then all of a sudden it's like, 'Wouldn't it be nice? Just think!' It's like, 'Yep!'" she said.
She said that they would likely invest a majority of the winnings for retirement, but she'd spend a little of the prize as well.
"I need a new dishwasher! I'm not extravagant," she said.
If Long is selected as the $1 million winner, the prize will be split amongst his group, with each member receiving about $45,500 before taxes. Long said that his wife, Heather, would like a newer vehicle, so his share of the winnings would likely go towards that. But he also has a purchase of his own in mind.
"I've always wanted a Donkey Kong machine. So maybe I'll buy myself a Donkey Kong machine because I'm an '80s guy and I love arcade games," he said.
The members of the Lotto 22 are:
From Clarksville: Scott Herrmann and Victor Herrmann
From Denver: Bruce Gonnerman
From Dunkerton: Michael Nicolaus and Nancy Smock
From Independence: Bryan Cain and Kristen Kayser
From Jesup: Ronald Kester
From La Porte City: Bruce Long
From Oelwein: Ellyn Perkins
From Plainfield: Valeria Marks
From Raymond: Randy Ruehs
From Shell Rock: Grant Clark
From Waterloo: Trish Bandfield, Mark Burke, Steven Foster, Kelvin Holmes, Rob Long, Nesffy Molina, Mike O'Connor, Martin Van Horn, Eric Woodward.
During the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast, country artist Jessie James Decker will return as Powerball correspondent for her third year, providing live updates throughout the evening and checking in with the finalists celebrating in their homes across the country before revealing the Powerball First Millionaire of the Year just after midnight EST.
For more information about the Powerball First Millionaire of the Year promotion, visit powerballrockineve.com.
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