(CLIVE, Iowa) A Colfax man has claimed a million dollar lottery prize. Fifty-seven-year-old George Dickerson says he decided at the last minute to go out in the cold, and buy Powerball tickets on New Year's weekend.
Dickerson say his family's business was heavily damaged by a flood in 2010, and he'd been worried about a lack of retirement savings, but thanks to the winning ticket, they are less worried now.
He claimed his prize today at Iowa Lottery Headquarters in Clive today (Friday), along with his wife Kathy, and their son and daughter-in-law. The Dickersons also have two adult daughters.
Dickerson bought his $1 million-winning ticket at the Kum & Go convenience store at 1200 N. Walnut St. in Colfax. His ticket came within one number of having at least a share of Saturday’s $390.1 million jackpot. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot.
The Colfax ticket was one of only three across the country that won a $1 million prize that night, with the others sold in New Hampshire and New Jersey.
Kum & Go will receive a $1,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket at one of its stores.
Kathy Dickerson said she at first didn’t believe her husband when he told her the good news.
“He was sitting at the kitchen counter and said, ‘I think I won!’” she recalled with a smile. “I said, ‘No, you didn’t. Quit messing with me.’ He said it again so I finally walked around the counter to see what he was looking at and said, ‘You read them to me.’ He read them to me and I said, ‘It looks like you won!’”
The jackpots in the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games have increased. The Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated 450-million dollars for tonight's drawing. The Powerball's big prize is an estimated 570-million dollars for the Saturday drawing.