A Denison man became the first Iowan to claim a one-million dollar prize from the Mega Millons drawing. Iowa started selling the Mega Millions game in February along with the state-based Powberball and Hot Lotto drawings. Sixty-year-old Robert Boehm, bought his ticket at a convenience store in Denison, and that’s where he stopped to see if he’d won.

He says he had two different tickets and the first one wasn’t a winner. Boehm says the clerk put the second one through the machine and told him he couldn’t cash it there because it was a one-million dollar winner. Boehm thought she was trying to play a late April Fool’s joke on him. Boehm delivers fertilizer for Charter Oak Ag Supply, and says it didn’t take long for the word to get out about his winning ticket.

Boehm says he went to work and his boss asked him if something was bothering him, and he told his boss he won one million dollars. Boehm says the boss was skeptical, so he showed him the ticket and asked him to keep it quiet. But, he says awhile later he got a call from his niece who said the news of his win was all over Denison and she was getting calls. His niece asked him why he was working and Boehm told her he had to have something to do, as it was hard to sit still.

Boehm is not married, but has 11 nieces and nephews and says he plans to take them to Germany for the beer fest. Boehm was stationed in Germany while in the army from 1969 to 1971. He also is thinking about buying a new truck, but says he wants to keep working. He says he could retire in about 16 months, but he wants to keep working as long as he is healthy, but might take the winters off to stay in where it’s warm.

Boehm says he buys $30 to $40 a week in lottery tickets and plays all the games. He kept his winning ticket in a plain white envelope marked “winning lottery ticket” so he wouldn’t throw it out by mistake before cashing it in. Boehm is the 12th Iowan to win one million dollars in a lottery game since 2008. He had all five of the Mega Millions numbers, but missed the Mega Ball number. He did however purchase the multiplier that pushed his prize up to one million.

Riverport Ladies

A vocal competition in Cedar Rapids this weekend will feature what’s being called barbershop quartets — for women.

 The Mid-America Region of Sweet Adelines International is bringing about 600 singers to the three-day contest. One of the organizers, Rhonda Puntney of Burlington, Wisconsin, has sung in her chorus 12 years.

“When it all comes together, it is really rewarding,” Puntney says. “You get off stage and if everything goes right, it’s just an amazing feeling. Your adrenaline’s going and you’re like, wow, that felt really great!”

Pentney says the competitors are coming from across the region — from within Iowa and as far away as Michigan.

“We have 15 quartets competing Friday evening and 13 choruses competing Saturday afternoon,” Puntney says. “The quartets are just four women standing on stage singing and the choruses range anywhere in size from about 20 people to 60 or 70.” The contest will feature granddaughters singing along side grandmothers, with ages ranging from 12 to 80. The quartet winners from this regional competition will compete in Seattle, Washington, in October, while the chorus winners will compete at the 2011 International competition in Houston, Texas.

“It’s barbershop singing for women — that’s what Sweet Adelines is all about,” Puntney says. “We have four parts, it’s tenor, lead, baratone and bass. The arrangements are a little bit different that what the men’s are but the voice structure is essentially the same.” Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organization of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of four-part a cappella harmony through education and performance. Contestants will be judged in four categories: music, sound, showmanship and expression.

The competition runs Friday through Sunday at the Cedar Rapids Marriott, with a mass sing on Saturday night from every balcony in the atrium. To hear more, visit: “www.sweetadelineintl.org“.