It's no joke, couple wins 

dream house

 

When Roger Geerts told his wife, Lynn, that he received a
phone call saying they had won the $250,000 Alleman Dream
House, she didn't believe him.

"I thought it was a prank," Mrs Geerts said. "My husband,
he's a real prankster."

But the call which came about 11:15 p.m. Saturday, was anything but a prank. Organizers of the Alle man High School raffle had indeed called to inform Mr. Geerts he had just become the owner of a new two-story house in Moline. 

The Davenport couple was not at the drawing held during
the Alleman Heritage Ball Satrday night at The Mark of the
Quad Cities.

"We fell ill on Saturday," Mrs. Geerts said. "That's why
we didn't attend the raffle. We woke up later that evening and
we thought we would watch a movie on TV or get something
to eat, when the call came."

When the Geerts caller ID indicated the call was coming
from The Mark, he and his wife thought the big prize already
had been given away, since the drawing was at 5 p.m.

"We thought we just won some little door prize or something," Mrs. Geerts said, adding that even a big win like that didn't seem to faze her husband. "My husband told me he was surprised, but he didn't look like it."

Mrs. Geerts was about to call the organizers to verify the news when another call came to give them more details, dispelling her suspicions.

"It's a beautiful house, but we don't know what to do with
it," said Mrs. Geerts, who has inspected her $250,000 prize at
2725 8th St. Court, Moline.

The Davenport couple is deciding whether to take the
house or the $160,000 cash prize. Costs for the house, such
as property taxes and transaction fees have to be taken into
account, Mrs. Geerts said.

The Geerts' house is the eighth given away since Alleman High School organized the Alleman Heritage Ball as a fundraiser 27 years ago.
Chances on the house were sold for $150 each, with a maximum of 3,500 chances sold.

Kathy Miller, spokeswoman for the Mark, said fundraisers are necessary
to cover operational expenses of the private school. Total proceeds from this year's fundraiser still are being calculated.

The second place prize of $15,000 cash was won by Tom
Lawrence of Rock Island.

The Lootens family of Dallas, Texas; Tom Kenney of Taylor
Ridge and Tony Terronez of Rock Island each bagged $5,000.
Twenty-two other cash prizes were awarded.