Northwest Iowa Woman Scratches Off $300,000 Lottery Prize
Renae Beeck Claims Top Prize in 'Colossal Crossword' Scratch Game
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CLIVE, Iowa — A northwest Iowa woman said she was at a loss for words after winning a $300,000 prize.
"It's just a feeling of shock," Renae Beeck told officials on Monday as she claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Clive. "I think your mind just goes blank, you're so excited. This is kind of a life-changing amount for me so I was very happy."
Beeck, 39, of Hinton, won the 17th top prize in the Iowa Lottery's "Colossal Crossword" scratch game. She stopped for gas at Casey's, 601 S. Locust St. in Glenwood, and decided to buy a ticket on a whim in the $30 scratch game.
Beeck, a travel nurse, scratched the ticket on her lunch break. She realized she was completing more words than usual, but she was so excited, she had a difficult time counting them to determine her prize.
"I'm like, 'Oh, I think I won $1,000!' And I was so excited," she said. "Then I was like, 'I think I won $10,000!' I was counting them and I think I counted them probably a hundred times. Then I said, 'No, I won $300,000!'"
Just to be safe, she scanned her ticket with the Iowa Lottery mobile app, which confirmed her big win. Then she called her husband, Nick, to deliver the exciting news.
She plans to put the bulk of her winnings away for retirement, but first, a vacation is in order.
"The first thing we're going to do as a family is we're going on vacation," she said. "I'd like to go to Hawaii or somewhere fun."
Colossal Crossword is a $30 scratch game that features 19 top prizes of $300,000, 56 prizes of $10,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.29. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com.
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