Free lunch and lottery tickets at Historical Museum June 28
For Immediate Release June 16, 2006
(DES MOINES, Iowa) - The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and the Iowa Lottery will give away 500 free lunches and new instant-scratch game tickets during the “Great Places Community Picnic” 11 a.m.-1 p.m. June 28 at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust Street in the heart of Des Moines’ Historic East Village.
DCA and lottery officials have teamed up to create the “Iowa Great Places” $1 scratch game, which offers a top prize of $1,846 – signifying the year Iowa gained statehood. The tickets bear images of Iowa’s three pilot places, Clinton, Coon Rapids and Sioux City.
“We’re very pleased to be working with the Iowa Lottery to develop this scratch game to promote Iowa’s three pilot great places,” DCA Director Anita Walker said. “The public is invited to come to the Historical Museum to help us celebrate as we unveil Iowa’s three Great Places Lottery scratch tickets.”
Visitors will receive a free lunch and scratch ticket, and can become eligible for door prizes ranging from an overnight stay at the Heartland Inn to free admission and food tickets at the Iowa State Fair. KIOA Radio’s Maxwell Schaeffer will be broadcasting 10 a.m.-1 p.m. from the museum.
In addition to the Heartland Inn, Iowa State Fair and KIOA, sponsors include Atlantic Bottling, Blue Bunny, Dallas County Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa Department of Economic Development, Iowa-Des Moines Supply and Kum & Go.
In January, Gov. Tom Vilsack signed agreements with leaders from Clinton, Coon Rapids and Sioux City, designating them as Iowa’s three pilot Great Places and creating work plans to develop their vision. DCA officials oversee the Great Places program, which pairs the resources of state government with local assets to build stronger communities across Iowa. The Iowa Legislature approved $6 million to continue the program and expand it to include six new places in fiscal year 2007.
Tickets in the Iowa Great Places scratch game go on sale June 26 and will be available at lottery retailers statewide by June 30. The artwork behind each of the tickets will be unveiled at a press conference at 11:30 a.m., June 26, at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, 707 4th Street in Sioux City. The ticket highlighting Sioux City features three different scenes from the community, including the historic Fourth Street market area. The Coon Rapids ticket features scenes of the area’s gorgeous natural attractions. Clinton’s ticket includes an image of the bald eagles that nest in the area along the Mississippi River.
“Great Places” players try to match any of “their numbers” to the “winning number” on each ticket to win the prize shown for that number. A player who finds a state of Iowa symbol automatically wins a prize.
A portion of lottery ticket revenue is distributed to state programs. Since the lottery’s inception in 1985, nearly $2 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1 billion has been raised for things like education and agriculture in Iowa.
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is responsible for developing the state’s interest in the areas of the arts, history and other cultural matters with the advice and assistance from its two divisions: the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council. The DCA preserves, researches, interprets and promotes an awareness and understanding of local, state and regional history and stimulates and encourages the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and public interest and participation in them. It implements tourism-related art and history projects as directed by the general assembly and designs a comprehensive, statewide, long-range plan with the assistance of the Iowa Arts Council to develop the arts in Iowa. More information about DCA is available at www.culturalaffairs.org.
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