News $10K lottery prize to help Belle Plaine man pay for his wedding

DES MOINES, Iowa – An eastern Iowa man said he knew he had a winning scratch ticket, but couldn’t believe how much he’d won.

Bryan St. John of Belle Plaine claimed the ninth of 25 prizes of $10,000 available in the Iowa Lottery’s “$100,000 Mega Crossword” game.

“I kind of knew I won something, but I thought maybe $100, $200,” St. John told lottery employees as he claimed his prize Monday at the lottery’s regional office in Cedar Rapids.

The 44-year-old said he purchased the winning ticket Friday at Casey’s, 907 13th St. in Belle Plaine and scratched it the same day during a break at work. He said he had several co-workers at Whirlpool Corp. in Amana verify that he had won a big prize.

St. John’s fiancé, Chrissy, shared in his excitement. The couple is planning a spring 2015 wedding and the lottery winnings will help pay for it.

The $100,000 Mega Crossword is a $10 scratch game. Players win a prize by uncovering at least four complete words in one or both of the ticket’s puzzles. Players can also win a prize by uncovering a “bonus word” in the playing area. If a player uncovers six complete “red” words, he/she wins $100,000. The overall odds of winning a prize in the game are 1 in 3.29.

Nine top prizes of $100,000 are still up for grabs in $100,000 Mega Crossword, as well as 15 prizes of $10,000, 71 prizes of $1,000 and thousands of prizes of $500, $200 and $100.

Since the lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $3.3 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.5 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans.

Today, lottery proceeds in Iowa have three main purposes: They provide support for veterans, help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund, and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions in the state and build and repair schools.