He also owns PXG, which is short for Parsons Xtreme Golf. He has made and lost a lot of money. Zach Johnson was one of his early sponsored players.
Under the radar connections to Iowa
- Thread starter RezClone
- Start date
Keni Richards was the Drummer for the band Autograph. He was born in Des Moines. He passed away in 2017.
Marc Walter, CEO of Guggenheim Partners, the group that owns the Dodgers, is from CR and graduated from CR Jefferson.
Actress Neva Patterson, who was in a number of big movies (e.g., Desk Set, An Affair to Remember, All the President's Men, the Buddy Holly Story) and lots of television in the 70s and 80s, graduated from high school in Nevada, where she grew up.
There's a bunch of Survivor cast members from Iowa.
Just a few...
THE IOWANS OF "SURVIVOR"
Rory Freeman, "Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire" (Fall 2004)
An S8 housing case worker from Des Moines, Freeman was gruff, surly and opinionated. But he was also a hard worker and strong in challenges - traits that helped him survive a tribal swap where he was trapped against a powerful all-female alliance during the show's "Battle of the Sexes" ninth season. Telling the ladies that if he didn't have a shot at tribal council, they would have to build their own shelter and fires and find their own food, the ladies instead ate one of their own and allowed him to make it to the merge - where Freeman immediately jumped back to his original alliance of men. However, the men were betrayed by their own female defectors from the swap, surprising Rory as the final player voted out before the jury phase, kicking off the defining storyline of the season.
Twila Tanner, "Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire" (Fall 2004)
A native of Osceola, the hard-edged, tomboyish highway repair worker from Marshall, Mo., was one of the betrayers who rejoined the women at the merge and ousted Freeman. The ladies systematically took out the men one by one until only one remained - Ohio highway construction worker Chris Daugherty. However, Tanner and her closest ally - Oklahoma rancher Scout Cloud Lee - realized they were at the bottom of the ladies' pecking order; they then grabbed Daugherty and a fellow outsider - Syracuse pre-law student Eliza Orlins - and turned the tables on the female alliance's three kingpins. Tanner rode into the finals with Daugherty, but the women never forgave her for betraying them (she notoriously promised her loyalty to the women's alliance by swearing on her son's life, only to later break that promise). Alas, Daugherty was able to close out his remarkable comeback by defeating the final six women, winning the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2 vote.
Susie Smith, "Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden" (Fall 2008)
The hairdresser from Charles City (she studied at North Iowa Area Community College and the Marshalltown Cosmetology School), considered annoying for her constant chattering, took advantage of a twist - a rare second pre-merge tribal swap - and wisely flipped on the power-drunk tribemates that had counted her out all game long right before the merge, creating a power shift that put her near the top of the pecking order for the remainder of the game. In post-game interviews, Smith herself has admitted that she rode the coattails of stronger players all the way to the final tribal council. However, her tribemates noticed . and she lost to lovable Maine physics teacher Bob Crowley by a narrow 4-3 vote.
Steve Wright, "Survivor: Redemption Island" (Spring 2011)
OK, Wright isn't an native Iowan (the retired 10-year NFL veteran was born in St. Louis and went to high school in Minnesota), but he played his college football in the late 1970s at the University of Northern Iowa. Plus, his gameplay was relatively insignificant during the season - ousted on Day 31, merely a speedbump during "Boston Rob" Mariano's dictator-like march to the title. However, Wright was involved in one of the season's biggest controversies; when he called out an African-American tribemate - the memorably eccentric former federal agent Phillip Sheppard - on his bizarre, confrontational behavior, he was haphazardly (and arguably unfairly) accused of racism. Host Jeff Probst handled the touchy situation so deftly at tribal council that he was awarded his fourth Primetime Emmy Award as reality host for the episode.
Denise Stapley, "Survivor: Philippines" (Fall 2012)
The sex therapist from Cedar Rapids joined an elite group of Survivor players during her journey to the crown: players who managed to play with every single member of their season, even all the pre-merge boots from the tribal phase of the game. As a member of Matsing, her tribe - one of the worst in the show's history - lost four straight Immunity Challenges to start the season, but she survived with her strongest ally, 25-year-old Ivy League graduate Malcolm Freberg, until the two were divided among the two remaining tribes. Stapley then went to the Kalabaw Tribe, which was still fully intact when she joined. She then made it safely through two more tribal councils (as well as the med-evac of another teammate) by keeping her head down, her mouth shut and just working hard around camp before the tribes merged, where she rejoined Freberg and the Tandang tribe, still undefeated and six-strong at the time (by accomplishing this, she joined a trio of players who pulled off a similar feat in the fourth season, "Survivor: Marquesas" - a group that included the season's winner, Vecepia Towery, as well as fan favorite Mariano, who would go on to be the show's only four-time player, a two-time finalist and one-time Sole Survivor). After the merge, Stapley and Freberg found strong allies in veteran player Michael Skupin and former child star Lisa Whelchel (better known as Blair Warner on "The Facts of Life") and navigated their way to the Final Four. Hoping to ride into the finals with her game-long ally, Stapley was forced to change course when Freberg didn't declare his allegiance back to her. She made the right call, voting out Freberg and going into the final tribal council with Skupin and Whelchel, where she cruised to a dominant 6-1-1 victory.
Sarah Lacina, "Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty" (Spring 2014)
The Cedar Rapids police officer started the game off with a bang, leading a come-from-behind challenge win and forming a strong alliance within her Brawn Tribe. Despite fellow cop Tony Vlachos taking advantage of her blue-blooded loyalty early on under false pretenses, Lacina was able to regroup admirably after a pre-merge swap left her all alone within a new tribe filled with an equal number of former Brains and former Beauty. The new tribe gelled well and vowed to stay together at the merge, but Lacina found herself torn, especially after her loyalty was questioned by tribemate and former Brain member Kass McQuillen. Sensing that she was now in a position of power as a swing vote, Lacina first overplayed her hand by insisting on calling the shots with her own tribe on who would be voted out, then refusing to give Vlachos a straight answer about rejoining the former Brawn members now on the other side, instead saying she wouldn't decide until tribal council. Lacina would eventually fall in line with the rest of her new alliance, who stealthy targeted former Kentucky pageant queen Jefra Bland after the biggest targets - Vlachos and Boston horse trainer L.J. McKanas - each produced hidden immunity idols and played them on each other. But rather than determining the course the postmerge game, Lacina instead joined an infamous group in Survivor lore - players like Christy Smith and Dolly Neely, who either publicly or privately declared themselves the swing vote, only to be unceremoniously voted out themselves instead - following a dizzying tribal council where McQuillen flipped her vote to the other side in a shocking blindside.
Just a few...
THE IOWANS OF "SURVIVOR"
Rory Freeman, "Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire" (Fall 2004)
An S8 housing case worker from Des Moines, Freeman was gruff, surly and opinionated. But he was also a hard worker and strong in challenges - traits that helped him survive a tribal swap where he was trapped against a powerful all-female alliance during the show's "Battle of the Sexes" ninth season. Telling the ladies that if he didn't have a shot at tribal council, they would have to build their own shelter and fires and find their own food, the ladies instead ate one of their own and allowed him to make it to the merge - where Freeman immediately jumped back to his original alliance of men. However, the men were betrayed by their own female defectors from the swap, surprising Rory as the final player voted out before the jury phase, kicking off the defining storyline of the season.
Twila Tanner, "Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire" (Fall 2004)
A native of Osceola, the hard-edged, tomboyish highway repair worker from Marshall, Mo., was one of the betrayers who rejoined the women at the merge and ousted Freeman. The ladies systematically took out the men one by one until only one remained - Ohio highway construction worker Chris Daugherty. However, Tanner and her closest ally - Oklahoma rancher Scout Cloud Lee - realized they were at the bottom of the ladies' pecking order; they then grabbed Daugherty and a fellow outsider - Syracuse pre-law student Eliza Orlins - and turned the tables on the female alliance's three kingpins. Tanner rode into the finals with Daugherty, but the women never forgave her for betraying them (she notoriously promised her loyalty to the women's alliance by swearing on her son's life, only to later break that promise). Alas, Daugherty was able to close out his remarkable comeback by defeating the final six women, winning the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2 vote.
Susie Smith, "Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden" (Fall 2008)
The hairdresser from Charles City (she studied at North Iowa Area Community College and the Marshalltown Cosmetology School), considered annoying for her constant chattering, took advantage of a twist - a rare second pre-merge tribal swap - and wisely flipped on the power-drunk tribemates that had counted her out all game long right before the merge, creating a power shift that put her near the top of the pecking order for the remainder of the game. In post-game interviews, Smith herself has admitted that she rode the coattails of stronger players all the way to the final tribal council. However, her tribemates noticed . and she lost to lovable Maine physics teacher Bob Crowley by a narrow 4-3 vote.
Steve Wright, "Survivor: Redemption Island" (Spring 2011)
OK, Wright isn't an native Iowan (the retired 10-year NFL veteran was born in St. Louis and went to high school in Minnesota), but he played his college football in the late 1970s at the University of Northern Iowa. Plus, his gameplay was relatively insignificant during the season - ousted on Day 31, merely a speedbump during "Boston Rob" Mariano's dictator-like march to the title. However, Wright was involved in one of the season's biggest controversies; when he called out an African-American tribemate - the memorably eccentric former federal agent Phillip Sheppard - on his bizarre, confrontational behavior, he was haphazardly (and arguably unfairly) accused of racism. Host Jeff Probst handled the touchy situation so deftly at tribal council that he was awarded his fourth Primetime Emmy Award as reality host for the episode.
Denise Stapley, "Survivor: Philippines" (Fall 2012)
The sex therapist from Cedar Rapids joined an elite group of Survivor players during her journey to the crown: players who managed to play with every single member of their season, even all the pre-merge boots from the tribal phase of the game. As a member of Matsing, her tribe - one of the worst in the show's history - lost four straight Immunity Challenges to start the season, but she survived with her strongest ally, 25-year-old Ivy League graduate Malcolm Freberg, until the two were divided among the two remaining tribes. Stapley then went to the Kalabaw Tribe, which was still fully intact when she joined. She then made it safely through two more tribal councils (as well as the med-evac of another teammate) by keeping her head down, her mouth shut and just working hard around camp before the tribes merged, where she rejoined Freberg and the Tandang tribe, still undefeated and six-strong at the time (by accomplishing this, she joined a trio of players who pulled off a similar feat in the fourth season, "Survivor: Marquesas" - a group that included the season's winner, Vecepia Towery, as well as fan favorite Mariano, who would go on to be the show's only four-time player, a two-time finalist and one-time Sole Survivor). After the merge, Stapley and Freberg found strong allies in veteran player Michael Skupin and former child star Lisa Whelchel (better known as Blair Warner on "The Facts of Life") and navigated their way to the Final Four. Hoping to ride into the finals with her game-long ally, Stapley was forced to change course when Freberg didn't declare his allegiance back to her. She made the right call, voting out Freberg and going into the final tribal council with Skupin and Whelchel, where she cruised to a dominant 6-1-1 victory.
Sarah Lacina, "Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty" (Spring 2014)
The Cedar Rapids police officer started the game off with a bang, leading a come-from-behind challenge win and forming a strong alliance within her Brawn Tribe. Despite fellow cop Tony Vlachos taking advantage of her blue-blooded loyalty early on under false pretenses, Lacina was able to regroup admirably after a pre-merge swap left her all alone within a new tribe filled with an equal number of former Brains and former Beauty. The new tribe gelled well and vowed to stay together at the merge, but Lacina found herself torn, especially after her loyalty was questioned by tribemate and former Brain member Kass McQuillen. Sensing that she was now in a position of power as a swing vote, Lacina first overplayed her hand by insisting on calling the shots with her own tribe on who would be voted out, then refusing to give Vlachos a straight answer about rejoining the former Brawn members now on the other side, instead saying she wouldn't decide until tribal council. Lacina would eventually fall in line with the rest of her new alliance, who stealthy targeted former Kentucky pageant queen Jefra Bland after the biggest targets - Vlachos and Boston horse trainer L.J. McKanas - each produced hidden immunity idols and played them on each other. But rather than determining the course the postmerge game, Lacina instead joined an infamous group in Survivor lore - players like Christy Smith and Dolly Neely, who either publicly or privately declared themselves the swing vote, only to be unceremoniously voted out themselves instead - following a dizzying tribal council where McQuillen flipped her vote to the other side in a shocking blindside.
worked for that man during the hay day of Parsons Tech. I believe he moved to the CR area for a job and / or his first wife. their tax software ppl got the shaft from Intuit, the day after the non-compete expired they started TaxAct.
Interestingly, his wiki has no mention of his first wife Martha (who helped create the company Parsons Tech). When they built a large call/office center for the company there some concessions to Martha as they were on the outs. one was the name of the street the building would reside .... he named it Marthas Way, as in she got her way.
Now this is memories from nearly 30 years ago. He was a very polar man .. either it was or it wasn't, both were the 'law' for the company. So many stories.
I don't see "Friends" among her credits but Annabeth Gish (Mystic Pizza, X-Files, et al.) is from Cedar Falls.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001272/?ref_=tt_cl_t_1
My ex knew her some, as they both did some modelling in CR when they were teens. Its fair to say Ms. Farrell has done better for herself...
"Flav's Fried Chicken" in Clinton, Iowa.
I this this thread is one where more names are gonna keep popping into peoples heads! I THINK one of the hot chicks from the Munsters was from Ames. An aunt or cousin on the show or something?
She is super cool. When we lived in Marion we lived right around the corner from her brother and sister-in-law and her SIL was friends with my wife in HS. Not that winning Survivor is like being a movie star or anything, but it didn't change her at all. Still drove the same Honda Civic, still lives in the same house.
I think that's her. Not sure why the Friends thing isn't in there. But I do believe you are correct.
She lives up the street from us and regularly runs/walks/rides by with her dogs.
I've heard stories about the Parson call center. That's funny about Martha Way.
The GoDaddy arrival was rather humorous, because it was a big deal at the time and Parsons made a comment about he was committed to the area....and then located it in Hiawatha. I believe Hiawatha offered some crazy good tax credits to get them. I recall a few newspaper articles critical of the CR city council for letting that happen.
