Cedar Falls Man Wins $50K Lottery Prize on His 10-Year Wedding Anniversary

Press release from the Iowa Lottery:

A Cedar Falls man was on his lunch break when he decided to cash in his $15-winning “Super Crossword” instant-scratch ticket for a couple more, then he won a $50,000 top prize.

Max Lamb claimed the eighth of 34 top prizes of $50,000 available in the lottery’s Super Crossword scratch game and called to share the news with his wife, Jennifer.

“She didn’t believe me until I took a picture of the ticket and the little receipt they gave me at the store. And she wasn’t believing it,” Lamb said. “’Cause today’s our anniversary, I said, ‘Here’s an anniversary gift for ya.’”

Lamb, 52, said once he told his wife, she began to spread the good news.

“They’ve been calling me. My wife’s called everybody,” Lamb said.

Lamb, who is the owner of Hawkeye Sheet Metal Co. in Waterloo, said he plans to treat his crew to dinner.

“I’m just taking all of our guys out in our company for supper tomorrow night,” he said. “There’s a lot of high-fives going around.”

Lamb purchased his winning ticket at Kum & Go, 1920 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City.

“I was shaking pretty well when I was standing, waiting for a guy to pay for his pop and candy bar at the grocery store when we went to check it,” Lamb said.

Lamb asked the clerk if the store had a self-ticket checker so he could verify it himself.

“So I went over there and, ‘Holy crap! It is $50,000!’” Lamb said. “And every head in the store went, ‘What?’ Some guy goes, ‘No way.’ And I stuck it in there again and he seen it read it on the little scanner, and he was a believer.”

Lamb claimed his prize Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery’s regional office in Mason City.

Lamb said he plans to use some of the winnings toward anniversary plans when he gets back home.

“We’ll probably go spend the night in Decorah or something, at the Winneshiek Hotel,” he said. “That’s where she’s from.”

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