THFHS president Peter Hansen has announced that Des Moines, Iowa, where Hubbell Center is located, will be the site of the 2013 biennial reunion. The off-year 2012 board of directors’ meeting will be held there as well when THFHS leaders will cover topics of Society business as well as status of the planning for the next reunion.  

The board meetings are always enjoyable for the officers, directors and committee chairs who attend them because they offer an opportunity to get to know one another better as they set the course for the upcoming year. Good business is conducted where good friends meet and work together.

Because Hubbell Center holds the genealogical and historical records of the Hubbell family the officers and directors will have a unique opportunity to explore the holdings of HC guided by long-time librarian and archivist Patricia Dawson. Pat, as she is known to the family, knows more about us than we know about ourselves and can assist new Society members to locate the records and books that are likely to hold their own family history.

Des Moines is familiar to the Society not only because Hubbell Center is located there, but because the name Hubbell itself is evident in locations throughout the city on buildings, streets and business signs. The activities and philanthropy of the Hubbell family are today part of the fabric of the city. 

There will also be an opportunity to visit Terrace Hill the Governor’s residence located in Des Moines. It was once the home of F. M. Hubbell, an early resident of Des Moines, until 1970 when the Hubbell family offered it to the state for the residence of Iowa governors and their families. The eye-catching mansion is built in the Second Empire style and was once called the finest example of Victorian architecture west of the Mississippi. It remains a unique building within and without, stained glass windows and all.  The directors’ meeting will be a special opportunity for those who come together in Des Moines next spring.