Loyal, forever true

tep foot into the Jim and Julia Frederick family’s man cave on their farm north of Orient and it’s not hard for you to decipher where their athletic allegiances lie. As they say, they’re loyal and forever true to the Iowa State Cyclones.

With the start of the football season only days away, the Fredericks are like fans of many others teams, wondering if their team will allow fans into the stadium for games because of COVID-19.

Other conferences, like the Big Ten, which the University of Iowa belongs to, have postponed football to spring.

Whether Cyclone fans are allowed to fill Jack Trice Stadium or not remains to be seen. But either way, the Fredericks know they will have their own special place they can watch games if they aren’t able to be there in person. Their man cave has become a well known spot to many of the Cyclone faithful of this county in the last few years.

The man cave began as a hen house. Jim’s grandmother Jessie raised hens and sold eggs. When Jessie became ready to retire from that, Jim’s father Bill heated and insulated the building and used it as a wood shop and extra barn space.

Jim started overhauling the building a few years before Bill passed away in 2010. The building was taken down to the studs and rafters, the formerly flat roof was arched and a bathroom and hot water were also added. Now there’s a bar area and a flat screen television.

There is a framed picture of PJ from when he was on television during a Cyclone basketball game several years ago and a momento from the Cyclones’ signature football win over second-ranked Oklahoma State in 2011, which is a game Jim was at.

There are nods to the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears in the man cave, which are teams some of the Fredericks also follow, however most of it is cardinal and gold.

“We bought a bunch of burgundy [couches] at a yard sale,” Jim said. “I got the [orange] polka dotted stuff at a hotel in Ankeny.”

Bill attended ISU, as did Jim, his older brother, as well as Jim and Julia’s sons PJ and Ryan. Julia attended Northwest Missouri State University but received one of her professional certifications from Iowa State.

More recently, Jim received his Masters Degree in agronomy from Iowa State. PJ met his wife, Sydney, in the ISU Ag Business Club, and they currently reside in the Des Moines area.

A game at the Man Cave is simply a potluck for those invited. Jim will grill brats, Ryan is the keeper of the guest list.

Since the man cave has been renovated in the last six years or so, the gatherings for games have become much more of a family affair. Board games and other toys are available for the kids while the adults watch the game.

“The original kids who remember it will say it’s not the original man cave it once was. It’s a little prettier than it was,” PJ said. “I would say there are folks who come that we wouldn’t normally see on a weekly basis. Before we renovated it, it was kind of a guy thing. As we renovated it, it was neat to see people bring their families and have kids running around too.”