DECORAH, IOWA.- The Huebners, honorary Vesterheim trustees, recently donated $500,000 to Vesterheim, for the Dan and Bonnie Huebner Endowment for the Westby-Torgerson Education Center. This contribution adds to an existing endowment that the Huebners created in 2003 to support the programs, activities, and maintenance of Vesterheim’s education center, named in memory of Mrs. Huebner’s parents, Ben and Emma Torgerson Westby, of Houston, Minnesota.

Longtime residents of Fairfield, Connecticut, the Huebners moved to Decorah early in 2004. Mr. Huebner is the retired vice-chair and director of the Grumman Corporation, and retired director of GreenPoint Bank. He actively serves on the board of The Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company in New York City. Both originally from Minnesota, Mrs. Huebner is from Houston, and Mr. Huebner grew up in Minneapolis.

The Huebners have been active in supporting Vesterheim for nearly a decade. Serving as trustees since 1995, they donated funds for the renovation and outfitting of Vesterheim’s education center. Their leadership inspired hundreds of other donations, and the Westby-Torgerson Education Center was completed in 2000 on budget, on time, and without debt. Since then, Vesterheim’s educational programs for a wide audience have grown and include one of the most distinguished Scandinavian folk-art schools in the United States.

In celebration of their most recent gift, and in recognition of their lifetime accumulated gifts of over $1 million, the Huebners have received Vesterheim’s Mange Takk (“Many Thanks”) Award for distinguished service, as well as the Gold and Platinum Kroneklubben (“Crown Club”) Awards. The Huebners’ Platinum Kroneklubben award represents the first opportunity in the museum’s 127-year history to recognize lifetime gifts over $1 million.