MP man scratches his way to $50,000

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

A retired salesman from Mt. Pleasant got the shock of a lifetime when he won it big off a lottery scratch ticket - $50,000 big.

Clarence Grilliot Jr. purchased a ?Super Crossword? scratch ticket on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at the local Mt. Pleasant BP Station, located at 2120 E. Washington St., and sat down to scratch it. He ended up winning the 16th of 30 top prizes of $50,000 available in the game.

?I?ve been playing for many years, just for fun,? Grilliot said. ?In the past, if I just won my money back, I was pretty happy. So, this time around, when I really did win big, I almost couldn?t believe it.?

The 80-year-old then went to have his ticket double-checked by a store clerk to make sure he was a true winner.

?She scanned it and her mouth fell open. She said, ?Do you ever have a winner, you have $50,000,?? Grilliot said.

After looking over his ticket again, Grilliot said he found that he missed a letter and with it came the game?s 10th word and $50,000 top prize. By this time, people had heard the commotion around the store and started to congratulate him, Grilliot said.

?There was about five to seven people standing around and everyone wanted a picture of that ticket,? he said.

Grilliot?s good news spread quickly outside the store as well.

?There were quite a few people in the store, and the news (of the win) got around town pretty fast,? he said. ?The first person I called, though, was my wife, and she was just as surprised as I was.?

Grilliot said he plans to spend most of the winnings on his grandchildren, laying a lot of the money aside for their education. He says he?s also entertained the idea of buying a new pickup truck, but says his family will benefit from the winnings first.

Super Crossword (game #893) is a $5 scratch game. More details about how to play this game, and number of prizes still up for grabs in it can be found on the Iowa Lottery?s website, www.ialottery.com.