SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "Big Spin® 2000" show airs Saturday, October 21, 2000, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a combined total of $257,500.
Virginia de la Piedra received California Lottery's "Hero In Education" award on this week's show. De la Piedra, who was nominated for the award by her husband Mario, is the founder and president of United Parents for Education, Inc. (UP for Education). The goal of UP for Education is to increase parental involvement in their child's education, to reduce teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and to improve technology in school. Actor Karim Prince, star of NBC's Freaks and Geeks, presented de la Piedra with the "Hero In Education" award. Prince said a large part of his life has been associated with the community and he wanted to take the opportunity to be a part of acknowledging the communities' unsung heroes.
Big Spin 2000 hosted one SPIN-SPIN-SPIN contestant on this week's show. "I want to go to Scotland and England to play golf," said Torrance resident Ian McDade. McDade, a retired sales manager, spun the largest prize wheel in the world and the ball dropped on the $75,000 spoke. McDade earned his way onto the show by purchasing a "Big Spin" Scratchers ticket that had three "SPIN" symbols, which won him a direct trip to the wheel.
California Gold is one way to get to the wheel on The Big Spin® 2000 show. The game starts with 10 contestants whose Big Spin Scratchers tickets revealed three "TV SHOW" symbols on one ticket. When instructed, each player pushes down a "detonator" to reveal a prize ranging from $1,750 to $4,000. Two of those contestants will reveal gold nuggets and advance to the second round of play. Once there, they compete to see who can get the closest to 10 units of "gold nuggets" in their mining car without going over. The winner of this round goes to the Big Spin 2000 prize wheel, while the other contestant wins $5,000. The top California Gold contestant, winning $75,000, was Evangelina Aguilera, a retired Sales Manager from South Gate who planned on saving a portion of her prize for her son's education. "After that," she continued, "I'm going to spend it and have fun." Other California Gold contestants won a combined total of $22,500.
The Fantasy 5TM contestant on this week's show won $85,000. Office Assistant, Theresa Pasqualino of Tarzana explained, "I am a very optimistic person, I know I'm going to come back." When asked what she planned on doing with her prize, she replied, "I want to invest, pay bills and help my friends and family."
The California Lottery sells its products through a network of more than 18,000 outlets statewide. The Lottery provides 52.5 percent of its revenues to players as prizes, 34 percent to public schools and 14 percent for administrative expenses, which include 6.8 percent for retailer commissions. Since 1985, the Lottery has raised more than $12 billion for public schools. The California Lottery's contribution equals approximately 2 percent of the state's total education budget. "Big Spin® 2000" is the longest running Lottery game show in the country, airing continuously since 1985.
| NAME |
CITY |
AMOUNT |
| Theresa Pasqualino |
Tarzana |
$ 85,000 |
| Ian McDade |
Torrance |
$ 75,000 |
| Evangelina Aguilera |
South Gate |
$ 75,000 |
| Other California Gold winners |
|
$ 22,500 |
| |
TOTAL $257,500 |
- # # # -