Dennis Thompson:  

Hi to my Urbandale HS and Univ. of Iowa friends! I was a Class of 1969 grad from Urbandale HS, attended Central College in Pella, Iowa from 1969-70, Grandview College in Des Moines 1970-1971, U. of Iowa Jan. 1972 and then graduated from University of Iowa in 1974, BA in Broadcasting and Film. I got to meet one of my favorite directors, Frank Capra. I could not find a good job in film or television so from July 1974 to July 2010 I was selling home music systems, tvs and home theater systems in Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and back to Des Moines. It was exciting to see all the changes in tv, video and surround sound and now the business has turned mostly into computer driven audio/ video/home theater which is still very fun. But after 36 years in that career I sold furniture at Homemakers in Des Moines, in leather and upholstery/living room furniture until Dec. 2014. My specialty was reclining furniture. I started at Slumberland Furniture in March 2015 in their Ankeny store until November, it was a great company with outstanding co-workers. I worked at Jared the Galleria of Jewelry until Jan. 2016, I enjoyed selling the high quality watches of Movado, Tag Heuer, Tissot and Citizen. On Sept. 12 2016 I started working in diamond and jewelry sales at Zale's the Diamond Store at Jordan Creek Mall. With my previous experience from Jared and Kay Jewelers I am enjoying this, we have a busy store there with gorgeous diamond rings by Vera Wang, Love's Destiny, Celebration and more. We also carry Movado, Citizen and Bulova watches. Please stop by sometime! My main hobby since high school is photography-I have entered photos in the Iowa State Fair contest for 13 years and have been accepted 11 times with one Honorable Mention, pretty good results. In 2011 I had 2 photos on display, there were 4300 total entered. In 2012 I was one of 70 people out of 1300 that had three photos on display, a great accomplishment. In 2013 I had one photo in, a difficult year where many people did not get one in. In 2014 I had one photo on display, only 841 were accepted out of 3700 entered. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 I had no photos accepted, very disappointing! I also like to bike, have done 4 RAGBRAIS of 3-6 days. I have had three 85 mile rides and when I was 50 I rode my bike 103 miles in one day Perry to Grinnell, my personal record. In July 2011 I rode 55 miles, Boone to Altoona, it was 95 out and I was tired! In July 2012 I only could ride 35 miles from Webster City to Story City, I had a leg cramp and was disappointed, my goal was 50 miles. It was 100 degrees and very windy. In 2013 I rode 3 days of 58, 53 and 53 miles, my brother went the whole week, always a great time! In 2014 I rode 83 miles in 92 degrees on my first day, it was hot! I only did 24 miles the second day but had a blast in Clear Lake and at The Surf Ballroom, and rode 29 miles my third day. In 2015 I rode one day for 73 miles, a great time with my brother and Team Wishful Thinkers. Last year 2016 my brother did the 100 mile day, good for you Jerry! This year I rode 53 miles from Algona to West Bend, my knee was very painful after surgery in March. I only rode 13 miles into Clear Lake on the day of 30 mph wind, but Clear Lake is my favorite place in Iowa, what a happening place that was! In 2018 I had knee surgery in May, could only ride 10 miles and so I was a visitor with my team on RAGBRAI, I could not ride, very disappointing but it was a great time as always! I have one son in Chandler, Arizona whose wife had their first baby, a daughter in 2014, the first Thompson born in 25 years. They just had their second girl in February 2016. I always wanted to be a National Geographic photographer when I grew up. My family and friends thought that was a great idea. As it turns out, I wasn't good enough so now I do that as a hobby. My ultimate job would be a photographer of some sort, for a company or cause where I can make a difference. I was inspired by a book of Medal of Honor Winners, and am inspired by Ansel Adams and Joel Sartore photos. I ride my bike by myself or read history or biography books to get away from daily life. I like walking by the lake where we live or walking around the beautiful Iowa State Fairgrounds. I really look forward to our State Fair every year, I go 4-5 times and watch all the great free bands. It's my favorite place to be in Iowa. 2013 was my first year to volunteer at the Fair, I sold merchandise on two days for the Blue Ribbon Foundation, in 2015 I worked three days at the booth in the Varied Industries Building and started as a tattoo artist at the Iowa Hawkeyes booth. In 2018 I worked 2 shifts for the Hawkeyes, very fun! I worked 3 shifts for the Blue Ribbon Foundation at the Fair as well as the Corndog Kickoff in July, also very fun. I enjoyed working on the Urbandale HS yearbook and weekly newspaper (with my dear friend Bev Davis!), as well as German which was my favorite class. I see many of my classmate friends around Des Moines which is always fun! We like to get together as a group. My heroes were my parents. My dad was one of six kids born on a farm in poor southern Iowa, his father left the family and his mother raised them all by herself. My dad had a great career in the restaurant business for about 30 years including being a manager of Baker's Cafeteria and he and my mother both taught their children to be fair, honest and to help others. They were both active in Cub and Girl Scouts, youth hockey etc. My dad passed away on an accident on RAGBRAI 1999, he did get in our team photo that morning. My parents were always an inspiration to me. My mother rode with me several times driving to Texas to visit my sister and brother, always was a great trip. She liked going to the State Fair also. She passed away in Feb. 2008. My other heroes are the servicemen and women from WWII, they saved the world from tyranny to make it a better place for us. I have met many vets and always thank them for their service. I met a Medal of Honor winner, he sent me an autographed picture of President Truman giving him the Medal. I lived in Omaha from 1977-1993, working at audio stores there. I moved to Ft. Worth Texas for 6 mos, that didn't work out so I came back to Des Moines in Jan. 1994 and have been back here since. I like it here, the "big little city," but I definitely don't like the Republican politics in Iowa now. I see friends and customers around town and people in restaurants know me from return visits. I don't plan to move again unless I win a Lottery and go to Costa Rica for the winter, haha. But I like to travel and would like to visit Maine, Europe again, Italy, Normandy beaches, Costa Rica and other countries and maybe see some of you out of state. We have a five year old Golden Retriever who is a trained therapy dog and also have a tan male poodle who is a healthy 14 years old, rescued from a puppy mill. We added another pure-bred golden retriever from our breeder in Wisconsin, he is a wild guy named Calvin but he is in puppy training. I have a good dvd collection, hundreds of records and cds that I enjoy...Expand for more