Winnie and Bill Hosford have been living in Lisbon, Iowa since July of 2001, moving there from Franklin, MA to be with their older daughter, Shelley, her husband, Kevin and grandson, Peter.  Their younger daughter, Heather, lives in Iowa also and is a graphic designer and artist. It is her beautiful mosaic monarch butterfly sphere that adorns the East Suite. 

Winnie is a retired RN and Pharmacy Tech who loves to work in the gardens, share her plants with others and gratefully receiving plants. Winnie loves to play with grandson Peter and is teaching him about gardening.  She also enjoys volunteering at the Lisbon History Center, quilting, and crewing for the family-owned hot air balloon company, Balloon Travels Unlimited, www.balloontravels.com  

Bill is a middle school Librarian with a love of science, nature, photography, and anything that flies.  While growing up, Bill worked on a produce farm and learned much about horticulture. His life-long enjoyment of photography has always included flowers, animals and “bugs,” particularly butterflies.   

Winnie and Bill started tagging Monarchs late in the 2007 season and have shared this interest with many students of all ages. They, and their daughter, Daria, catch, or raise, and tag Monarchs as part of the Monarch Watch organization at the University of Kansas.  Through his company, WGH Arts LLC, Bill has published a poster “Birth of a Monarch” showing the life cycle stages of the Monarch as well as an ABC book based on hot-air balloons “ABalloonC” and a book about geodes called “Geo the Geode.”  See his website at www.wgharts.com.