The Scratch

From NE to NYC for NYE

Three Nebraska Lottery players got a chance to visit New York to watch the ball drop in Times Square after winning the First Powerball Millionaire of the Year contest, along with other winners from 25 lotteries across the US.

The three players—Devron Adams of Broken Bow, Janelle Bowen of Omaha and Kim Treague Zerr of Eagan, Minnesota—entered vouchers printed out when they bought $3 Powerball with Power Play tickets on the website for the Nebraska Lottery’s MVP Club. The vouchers printed when tickets were purchased between July 15 and September 29, 2019.

Their $22,500 prize package included roundtrip airfare to New York, a three-night stay at Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan, all meals included, a holiday cruise on the Hudson river, theater tickets, admission to an exclusive New Year’s Eve party, gift bags, and $250 spending money. The taxes on the prize package were picked up by the Nebraska Lottery. The players also had a chance to win $1 million during the live broadcast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.

They left home a few days before New Year’s Eve, ready to spend the holiday in the Big Apple, most from Nebraska, but Kim left from Minnesota. She’d bought a Powerball ticket while traveling through Nebraska on the way back home and decided to enter the MVP Club to enter the single voucher she’d purchased.

When they arrived in New York, they were transported to the Powerball reception party in the Crowne Plaza Hotel with a concert from the Beach Boys, as well as other performers.

After an evening full of food and entertainment, the players settled into their hotel rooms to get ready for a busy next day.

They saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and had some time to explore the city.

That night they also floated down the Hudson River and past the Statue of Liberty on a holiday cruise that included dinner and entertainment from an Elton John impersonator.

The next day was the big one. While people from around the world crowded into the ten square blocks around Times Square, our winners stayed cozy and warm high above inside the hotel at the Powerball New Year’s Eve party, watching the events unfolding below on monitors.

The party featured live music, entertainment, fancy food and even a woman wearing a dress covered in actual champagne flutes!

“We had the floor to ourselves,” Devron said. “We had a really good time.”

The finalists for the live TV $1 million giveaway and they were hurried off to a studio with country star Jesse James Decker.

None of the Nebraska Lottery players were chosen as finalists for the $1 million prize, that distinction went to Blaine Marston of Passadumkeag, Maine. Nevertheless, the Nebraska Lottery players really enjoyed their time in NYC.