The Reicks family from northeast Iowa recently competed on the TV show “Family Feud.” The episode aired Friday evening, Feb. 20, and revealed that the team won the grand prize of $20,000. On the popular television show set are (l-r) Mike Tobin of West Union, Beth (Reicks) Larson of Decorah, Rafael Soriano of Eagan, Minn., Lisa Reicks of New Hampton, and Sarah (Reicks) Soriano of Eagan, Minn. (submitted photo)

'Family Feud' grand prize comes home to Iowa

Zakary Kriener

News Writer

zkriener@fayettepublishing.com

“Name something people are dying to get into,” said “Family Feud” TV host Steve Harvey.

“The front page of the newspaper!” was the enthusiastic answer of Sarah Soriano, the sister-in-law of West Union’s own Mike Tobin.

Tobin and four members of his family, including mother-in-law Lisa Reicks of New Hampton, sister-in-law Beth Larson of Decorah, brother-in-law Rafael Soriano and his wife, Sarah Soriano, filmed the game show episode in August 2014.

On Friday, Feb. 20, the episode featuring the Reicks family aired, revealing that the family had won $20,000 in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion.

The game did not start out very promising for the New Hampton family, as their opponents outscored them 239-0 through the first four rounds.

However, the rules of the show state that the first family to score 300 points will advance to the “Fast Money” round. Since neither team scored well enough, the Reicks family got the opportunity to participate in the sudden-death round.

The sudden-death round pits a representative from each team against one another in an attempt to reveal the No. 1 answer to the given question.

Up for the Reicks family was Mike Tobin, a police officer in West Union.

“Name something that, if a married man forgets, it will land him in hot water” was the topic read by host Steve Harvey.

Mike’s opponent was quicker to hit the button, but his answer was not the top answer, giving Mike the opportunity for rebuttal.

“Anniversary!” Mike quickly answered, which cued the winning “DING!” sending the whole family into a frenzy.

Rafael and Sarah then competed in the “Fast Money” round, with Rafael going first and scoring 159 points.

Needing just 41 points to reach 200 points and win the grand prize of $20,000, Sara’s quick thinking resulted in 233 points for her family’s team, making news that is truly worth of the front page of a newspaper!

“Being up there on stage is a lot harder than it looks,” revealed Tobin, who due to contractual obligations could not discuss the show’s outcome until the show had aired.

The Reicks family hosted a party at Harvest Church in New Hampton on Friday for friends and family to watch the airing of the show.

“It wasn’t too hard to keep it a secret,” said Tobin, who along with his wife, Jennifer, had to keep their excitement quiet for six months. “I knew how fun it would be to watch everyone see how poorly we did throughout the first half of the show, and then surprise them by pulling it out in the end.”

The Tobins, along with the rest of Mike’s team, received a complimentary flight and two-night stay at an Atlanta hotel as part of being selected for the show. The group spent the entire morning taping the show on their first full day in the city. On the following day, they took the opportunity to visit an aquarium, Olympic Park, and other attractions and restaurants the city has to offer.

“It was a great experience. Steve (Harvey) is really nice and seemed very down-to-earth,” closed Mike. “This will definitely be something to remember and a story to pass along to future generations.