ABOUT

Seven Cities Sod First Takes Root in 1966

In the mid 1960’s land prices were rising and Norman Frye, a 4th generation farmer on the same plot of land, knew he either had to get larger or diversify. In 1966 he took a 30 acre pasture and started renovating it by rolling and fertilizing to bring it up to standard for planting sod. while renovating the pasture he planted 60 acres of Marion Bluegrass thus the start of Seven Cities Sod. The name came about from the original seven communities that made up the Quad Cities and surrounding areas: Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island, Silvis, Milan, and East Moline.

OUR STORY

OUR TEAM

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Lance Frye
PRESIDENT

Lance Frye

  • Lance has been President and part Owner of Seven Cities Sod since its inception in 1967.  He has been happily married since 1987 to his wife, Cheryle.  Together they have eight children between the two of them.  Outside of Seven Cities Sod, Lance enjoys spending time with his 21 grandchildren and attending all of their different activities!
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Keaton Frye
VICE PRESIDENT

Keaton Frye

Keaton has been the Vice President and part Owner of Seven Cities Sod since July of 2012.  He handles all chemical and fertilizer applications on the farm as well as assisting Jill with the day to day operations.  Keaton has been happily married since July of 2012 to his wife, Lauren.  Together they have two daughters.  Off the farm, Keaton enjoys spending time with his family and good cold beer with friends!

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Jill Oostendorp
Secretary

Jill Oostendorp

Jill has been at Seven Cities Sod since August of 2001 in her current role as Office Manager.  She is in charge of daily scheduling, managing the books, and coordinating all of our deliveries and installs.  Jill has been happily married since 1996 to her husband, Steve.  Together they share two children with each other.  When Jill isn't keeping things in line at the farm, she enjoys hanging poolside with friends sipping on a cold drink and cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes!

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OUR STORY

  • 1966

    Established

  • 1967

    The first sale of sod was made from Seven Cities Sod

  • 1960s & 70s

    Each year we added more acres of sod and over time phased out the livestock and row crop part of the farm

     

  • 1980

    Became a full-fledged sod farm, consisting of 550 acres of only Kentucky Blue Grass varieties

  • 1987

    We converted to Princeton Harvesters that were able to cut slab sod on pallet.

     

  • 1988

    We received a phone call from the producers of the iconic movie “Field of Dreams” to furnish the sod necessary for the baseball field and the surrounding site.

  • 1988

    Since 1988 we have continued to grow and improve our Seven Cities Sod Low Mow Blend of Kentucky Bluegrass

  • 1993

    The first sod farm in Iowa to incorporate “big roll” production

  • Today

    We have expanded our acreage to 650 acres, of which 400 acres is under irrigation while still providing the most up-to-date Kentucky Bluegrass blend of which the industry demands

THE DETAILS OF OUR STORY

We originally were only using Ryan Sulky Sod Cutters which enabled us to cut and roll sod on the ground and load sod by hand onto trucks. In 1987, we converted to Princeton Harvesters that were able to cut slab sod on pallets which made it possible to load trucks by use of forklifts which, in turn, cut our labor force drastically.

We knew we had made our mark in 1988 when we got a phone call from the producers for the iconic sports movie “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner being filmed in Dyersville, Iowa to furnish the sod necessary for the baseball field and the surrounding site.

Since 1988 we have continued to grow and improve our Seven Cities Sod Low Mow Blend of Kentucky Bluegrass we offer to stay on par with the demands of the industry. We have stayed on the cutting edge of technological advances within our industry by becoming the first sod farm in Iowa to incorporate “big roll” production in 1993 which has since raised the volume of sod that is able to be harvested. Along with this “big roll” innovation it enabled us to venture into sod installation with big rolls only.

As of today, we have expanded our acreage to 650 acres, of which 400 acres is under irrigation while still providing the most up-to-date Kentucky Bluegrass blend of which the industry demands. Our service area includes, but is not limited to, Eastern Iowa, Western Illinois, and Southern Wisconsin, usually within the parameters of a 150 mile radius of the Quad Cities. Currently, our work force consists of four full-time employees and ten seasonal employees. This has been a family owned and operated business from the start that has progressed since Norman Frye started it in 1967. Lance Frye, Norman’s son, has become the 5th generation on the farm and in the spring of 2012 his son, Keaton Frye, joined him and became the 6th generation Frye to carry on the operation. To emphasize the family atmosphere at Seven Cities Sod our office manager, Jill Oostendorp, step-daughter of Lance, and Sister to Keaton has been with us since 2001 and remains a crucial part in the day-to-day operations of the business.

Contact Us Today For Your Commercial and Residential Sod and Turf Needs!
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