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DES MOINES, IOWA -- Iowa's newest lottery millionaire will be ringing in his New Year a little differently this year after winning a top prize in the lottery’s “Lifetime Riches” instant-scratch game.

Dick Clark of Eldon, Iowa, said he usually plays the lottery’s lotto games, but once in a while will play a scratch game. So when he realized he wasn’t the Powerball jackpot winner Sunday morning, he decided to try his luck with Lifetime Riches. He’s glad he did.

“I went to Casey’s to fill the car up with gas and get a Sunday paper,” Clark said. “I decided I really didn’t want to go to work on Monday, so I bought a Lifetime Riches scratch ticket.”

Clark, 46, said when he returned home and scratched his ticket, it took a while for the prize amount to sink in.

“I looked at it, and then looked at it again. I got my reading glasses and looked at it again. Then I put it away for a while and looked at it again,” Clark said with a laugh. “Then I finally realized it was something very nice.”

Oddly enough, Clark did go to work Monday. Clark is a lubrication technician for UGL Unico in Eddyville. But when he called his boss to ask for Tuesday off, Clark had a tough time convincing his boss of why he needed the day off. “I said, ‘Something came up over the weekend and I need to take tomorrow off,’” Clark said. “When I told him I won $1 million he said, ‘You’re kidding. I think we can get that approved on short notice.’”

Clark had a fun time telling all his family and friends about his big win; he called a friend first. “I called a friend and a brother and last, I called my wife,” Clark said. “I said, ‘I think I screwed our taxes up this year, but in a very good way.’”

Clark’s wife, Mary, also had a hard time believing him. “He told me I couldn’t tell anyone at work!” Mary said. “So I called him two or three more times that day saying, ‘Are you sure about this?’”

Clark did return to Casey’s at 811 W. Elm St. in Eldon where he purchased his ticket to have it validated. “The check-out lady looked and said, ‘Now that’s a good one!’” he said.

Clark said he plans to invest the money and continue working. He said he and his wife will take a little time to weigh their options.

This win also squelched an old superstition of Clark’s. His ticket happened to be the first ticket in the pack. Clark said had he known that, he would never have purchased the ticket because he always thought it was bad luck.

Clark claimed the fifth top prize of $1 million in Lifetime Riches, leaving three $1 million prizes still up for grabs in the game. Players who win the top prize have the option of receiving it in annuitized payments over time or as a one-time, lump-sum payment.

Winners who choose the annuity option will receive $40,000 per year for a period of 25 years. If the winner chooses to receive the lump-sum payment, he/she will receive $650,000 before taxes. Clark chose to receive his prize as a lump-sum payment.

Prize Details:
Top Prize: $1 million
Chosen to receive as: $650,000 lump-sum payment
Federal withholding: $162,500 (25 percent)
State withholding: $32,500 (5 percent)
Net amount: $455,000

Information provided by the Iowa Lottery