Fairgoers Find Money At The Fair, Instead Of Spend It

Monday, October 1st 2007, 6:00 pm

By: News On 6

You can blow 50 bucks in about five minutes at the Tulsa State Fair, but what if you found $50 in about the same amount of time? The News On 6â€™s Rick Wells reports he found himself $50, and there is $175 million that the state is holding, waiting for someone to claim it.

You can find the pot of golf at the end of the rainbow at a small booth on the lower level of the QuikTrip Center.

"I've had three people, stock dividends, a utility deposit and a state income tax refund that had gone unclaimed," Susan Nicewander of the State Treasurer's Office said.

Not large amounts of money probably, but certainly, worth the few seconds it took her to look the folks up on the computer.

The Treasurer's office reports in the first three days of the fair 150 people have discovered they have unclaimed money.

"I was here with my fiancÃ© and my grandfather ran into us and said you've got money," fairgoer Time King said.

Turns out it was $100. King got some help from the booth folks on how to actually get his hands on the cash, basically fill out a form and mail it in, it is a pretty easy 100 bucks.

"What are you gonna do with a $100?" asked News On 6 reporter Rick Wells.

"Probably pay bills, there's not much else," responded King.

Sadly, for some folks, not everyone who checks has money coming. Jo Bible checked and was not on the list.

"One year I'm gonna be there," said fairgoer Jo Bible.

The state says there is $175 million owed to 350,000 Oklahomans, which averages out to one in ten. The News On 6â€™s Rick Wells decided to see if he was on the list, and he was! Wells had $50 in unclaimed monies.

The biggest find so far, this year was $75,000.

Watch the video: Getting Money From The Fair

To get more information about the Tulsa State Fair, click here.