(Arnolds Park)– A South Dakota man with ties to the Iowa Great Lakes has made a gift to the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum, operators of the Arnolds Park Amusement Park.
Jim Frost of the Maritime Museum says Ed Parsen of Pierre, South Dakota has set up an endowment to benefit the organization after his death. Frost says the gift is 500-thousand dollars and is through the South Dakota Community Foundation, which will hold the money in the name and for the benefit of the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum and its entities including the Arnolds Park Amusement Park, Queen’s Court, Queen Two, the green space and the Maritime Museum. Frost says interest on the money will belong to Mr. Parsens during his lifetime and will be distributed to the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum each year in perpetuity.
Parsen started Lakes Cable Systems in 1976. The system eventually expanded to Okoboji, Arnolds Park, Orleans, West Okoboji and Wahpeton, serving 3,500 homes in the area.
In 2000, at the age of 83, Parsen sold out to Mediacom. At the time he operated cable systems in five communities in South Dakota and six in Iowa.
Parsen said his gift to the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum is in appreciation for the opportunities he had in the Iowa Great Lakes region.
