Officials at Arnolds Park Amusement Park, in the Iowa Great Lakes, are riding high after a big announcement.

A $500,000 endowment from the Ed Parsons memorial will be used for capital improvements to the amusement park. Parsons, who was influential in the cable business, died earlier this month.

This donation kicks off the Historic Arnolds Park endowment campaign. "Frankly we hope to parley that $500,000 into $5-million in the future," said Al Maser, HAPI Chairman. "And that would then be a great endowment for us to maintain the park."

The park will get $25,000 from the fund each year.