Free Candy Bar Leads Iowa Woman To $10,000 Lottery Win
Carol Gerst Claims Prize In 'Ruby Red Crossword' Scratch Game
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CLIVE, Iowa — A West Burlington woman's sweet tooth led her right to a $10,000 Iowa Lottery prize.
Carol Gerst said she had a free candy bar to redeem at Casey's, but also planned to buy a scratch ticket at another store.
"I'm not going to two gas stations. I'll just go to Casey's," she said.
Gerst and her son, Caleb, drove to the Casey's at 501 E. Mount Pleasant St. in West Burlington to pick up her Reese's Sticks bar and a Ruby Red Crossword scratch game.
She scratched the ticket while they ran errands. Gerst said she knew she had won a prize, so she scanned the ticket with the Iowa Lottery mobile app.
"It says $10,000," she said. "And I'm saying, 'No, I think there's a mistake!'"
Gerst eventually realized she forgot to scratch the "H" on the ticket. That one letter was all it took to bump her up to that big prize, which she claimed Tuesday at the lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.
Gerst, 76, works at a facility that cares for residents with special needs. She said she plans to use her winnings to pay for a home repair, to surprise friends with a little bit of cash, and to treat herself.
"At my age, we are having fun with any bonus, anything extra. This is fun money for me!" Gerst said.
Ruby Red Crossword is a $30 scratch game that features 16 top prizes of $300,000, 47 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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