Ida County Woman Eyeing Dream Home After $300,000 Lottery Win
Shonda Rogge Claims Top Prize in 'Colossal Crossword' Scratch Game
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CLIVE, Iowa — An Ida County woman won plans to begin the search for her dream home after winning a $300,000 Iowa Lottery prize.
Shonda Rogge of Battle Creek won the first top prize in the "Colossal Crossword" scratch game. She bought her winning ticket at Casey's, 714 S. Main St. in Holstein, while on her lunch break.
"I scratched it and was like, 'Wow, I think I counted 16 words!'" Rogge, 35, told officials on Friday as she claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Clive.
She tried to check the size of her prize by scanning the ticket with her Iowa Lottery mobile app, but she was out of data on her phone. She asked her uncle, who works with her at a commercial door manufacturer, to download the app and scan the ticket instead.
"And we sat in my truck and screamed, and I cried," she said. "It was great and it still isn't sinking in."
She called her husband, Beau, with the news. He didn't believe her until she sent him a photo of the winning ticket and a screenshot from the app showing the $300,000 prize.
"It does not feel real at all," Rogge said. "I don't know when it will hit me, actually. Maybe when I see some zeroes in the bank?"
Colossal Crossword is a $30 scratch game that features 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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