Carlson Restaurants Worldwide (CRW) has a lot of Friday's for which to be thankful. A leader in full-service restaurants, the company operates and franchises more than 900 T.G.I. Friday's casual dining locations across the US and in about 60 other countries. The restaurant chain offers a menu featuring beef, chicken, and seafood entrees along with a selection of popular appetizers. About 300 T.G.I. Friday's units are company-owned while the rest are franchised. The company also operates Pick Up Stix, an Asian-themed fast-casual chain with more than 90 locations in California, Nevada, and Arizona. CRW is a subsidiary of travel and leisure conglomerate Carlson Companies.

Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., The Marcus Corporation is a leader in the lodging and entertainment industries. Marcus Theatres® is the seventh largest theatre circuit in the U.S., with locations in major markets in the Midwest. Marcus Hotels and Resorts owns and manages a distinctive portfolio of hotels, resorts and other properties that are unique in their markets. The Marcus Corporation is included in the Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index and other indexes. The Marcus Corporation was founded in 1935 with the purchase of a single movie theatre in Ripon, Wisconsin.

The R&A is the governing body for golf in most parts of the world (the United States Golf Association, working in cooperation with The R&A, fulfills that role in the US and Mexico). It was formed by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to take over the administration and business activities of golf. (Founded in 1754, the Royal and Ancient helped establish the game of golf and first codified its rules.) The R&A administers rules and helps to foster the development of the sport; it runs about 10 championships and international matches, including the Amateur and Open Championships. The R&A was established in 2004.

The Yard House opened its doors in 1996 in Long Beach, California and continues to grow thanks to the continued loyalty of its valued guests and tremendous team of employees. The Yard House was founded by restaurateur Steele Platt who moved to California from Denver, Colorado. While in Colorado Steele owned a popular bar in 1989 called The Boiler Room - which helped inspire him to create the Yard House concept in California.

The Canadian Football League (CFL) is an eight-team professional sports league that promotes a variation of the US football game. (Differences include a slightly larger field of play and use of a three-downs rule.) The CFL season runs from June until November and culminates with the Grey Cup championship game, one of Canada's highest-rated televised sports events. The league traces its roots to the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union in 1884, which evolved over time into the current league. It adopted the Canadian Football League name in 1958.

Peabody Management (also known as Peabody Hotel Group) keep their ducks in a row. The hotel management firm owns about ten hotels. Three luxury hotels operate under the Peabody name in Memphis; Orlando, Florida; and Little Rock, Arkansas. Its pampered ducks are escorted through the swank lobbies twice a day in a tradition dubbed "the ceremonial March of the Peabody Ducks", a part of the Peabody experience that has been around for some 80 years. The company's first hotel, The Peabody Memphis, first opened its doors in 1925. Peabody Management is a subsidiary of real estate development and management firm Belz Enterprises.

Richardson Sports owns and operates the Carolina Panthers professional football franchise, which joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1993 (along with the Jacksonville Jaguars). While still quite new to the league, the team reached its first NFC Championship berth just three years later and earned a trip to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2004 season. (Carolina's championship run ended with a loss to the New England Patriots.) Jerry Richardson, a former wide receiver for the Baltimore Colts (now the Indianapolis Colts), has controlled the Panthers since spearheading the franchise's formation.

WNBA operates the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), comprised of 12 professional teams throughout the US that play from May through September after the NBA wraps its season. Several of the league's teams are controlled by current NBA franchise owners and most share the same arenas as their men's league counterparts. The WNBA governs league operations, regulates franchise ownership, and negotiates broadcasting rights and marketing sponsorships. Its games are broadcast on Walt Disney's ABC and ESPN networks, as well as on NBA TV.

Great Canadian Gaming has about ten casino operations in Canada (British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia) and Washington state. The properties offer slot machines and/or table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette. In addition, the company owns and operates one thoroughbred racetrack, four standardbred racetracks, a bingo hall, a community gaming center, several restaurants, two theaters, and a hotel and conference center. Its flagship property, the River Rock Casino Resort, is the leading casino resort in the Vancouver, British Columbia market.

Southern Maid Donuts began in 1937 by Mr. and Mrs. J.B. Hargrove. A young couple coming out of the throws of the Great Depression, they created Southern Maid because they saw the need in the market for quality donuts. They created their own recipes, which have stood the test of time. Quality ingredients and uncompromised procedures are reason for the continued success of the Hargrove family to this very day. The Southern Maid name came about because of being from the South. Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove wanted a name that encompassed a feeling as well as humble southern traditions and memories. Part of this Southern Maid tradition was a large sponsorship for several years of the Louisiana Hayride Show in Shreveport, Louisiana. Many a young entertainer sang the praises of Southern Maid Donuts. An interesting note: Elvis did the only commercial of his life for any product on November 6th, 1954 for Southern Maid Donuts. He sang the jingle. "You can get them piping hot after 4 P.M., you can get them piping hot, Southern Maid Donuts hits the spot, you can get them piping hot after 4 P.M." Elvis frequented the Shreveport store for donuts on his visits to the Louisiana Hayride. Other entertainers that sang the praises of Southern Maid include Minnie Pearl, Johnny Horton, and Johnny Cash.

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