Douglas County Historical Society needs a place for annual sale

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The Douglas County Historical Society is struggling to find a place for its annual fundraiser after thieves damaged the venue they had secured for this year.

Organizers say the sale is critical to save local history.

Kathy Aultz is the executive director of the Douglas County Historical Society, a non-profit that preserves Omaha and Douglas County history dating back to the 1850s.

“We help people with genealogy, all kinds of historical research people are working on,” Aultz said. “We also do historic programs and offer classes.”

For more than 16 years, the society has held an annual sale to help pay for all the programs.

Aultz says this year she had an empty grocery store lined up for the event, but thieves stole the copper piping and ruined the HVAC system.

“So we’ve spent the last, going on a month now, trying to find a generous property owner that would allow us to use their space.”

Not just any space, one that’s up to 60,000 square feet so all the antiques can be displayed - including household items, jewelry and kid’s toys.

But Aultz says this year even a 6,000-square-foot space would do.

“Just so we could have some kind of sale to make up for the loss to our budget.”

Aultz says the sale is also crucial for volunteers who donate countless hours collecting items and setting up.

“They’ve been buying things for the last year, saving things for the last year, and they’re just really heartbroken. It’s a time for them to get together with their friends. They love love love doing it. We’d be so grateful. We’re just really hopeful that somebody will step up and help us with this and we can still finish it before the end of the year.”

The Historical Society is hoping to find a space by Oct. 20 so they can have the sale before the end of the year.

Any property owner who would like to donate the use of their space for this event is urged to contact the Douglas County Historical Society at (402) 455-9990.

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