Henry County Heritage Trust holds annual meeting

Henry County Heritage Trust (HCHT) held its annual meeting, followed by its regular monthly meeting on April 2, 2025, at their museum in Mount Pleasant. The following officers were elected for the upcoming year: Patricia Richenberger, president; Sheila Allender, vice-president; Waunita Gibbons, secretary, and Patricia White, treasurer.

Activities and accomplishments for 2024 were highlighted, to include: working remotely with UNI student interns and meeting weekly with our dedicated group of local volunteers, making significant renovations to the Saunders School building and the Van Allen House (twelve energy-efficient windows, solar shades, new bathroom, two mini-splits units and painting), hosting several well-attended programs and events (tag sales & historic book sales, 19 th Century Photography, Researching Your Civil War Roots, Native American Artifacts, Garretson Heritage Farm and Voices from the Past) and accepting dozens of wonderful donations (Henry Clay Dean oil painting, artifacts from MHI, historic documents from the David L. McCoid Estate, bookcase from Phi Delta Theta, etc.). In addition, HCHT received 2024 grants from the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation, the William M. and Donna J. Hoaglin Foundation and the Pennebaker Foundation.

A full slate of 2025 events and programs have been scheduled. May 3, the museum will begin its regular, every-Saturday open hours of 1:00 PM-4:00 PM. We are excited to announce the Van Allen House will be open the first Saturday of every month. The Iowa Wesleyan Archives continues to be open Mondays, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM.

On Saturday, May 10, Tyler Sullivan will present“Iowa Scenic Views by Foot”, sharing his adventures of visiting museums in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Friday, May 23, a Tag Sale and Book Sale will be held. The first of several “ Voices from the Past” will be featured on June 7, and on June 21, we look forward to David Connon’s program“Henry County Confederates”. Connon’s talk is funded by Humanities Iowa and the State Historical Society.

For further details about Henry County Heritage Trust, to make a donation or schedule a special tour time, visit our website www.henrycountyheritagetrust.org or follow us on Facebook.

The next scheduled HCHT board meeting is Wednesday, April 23, 10:00 AM at the Henry County Heritage Center Museum, 403 West Madison Street, Mount Pleasant. The public is invited to attend.