Antelope County Historical Society elects new board members

Three new members – Keith White of Neligh, Bev Krutz of Orchard and Gary Arehart of Elgin – were elected to serve on the board of the Antelope County Historical Society at the organization's recent annual meeting. All three bring a strong interest in the county's history, with each having diverse experiences and interests.

"We welcome these new members to our board," said Donna Hanson, Antelope County Museum executive director. "Their broad experience and love for Antelope County will go a long way toward encouraging more focus on celebrating our history."

White was elected to serve at-large on the organization's Museum Committee. Krutz was elected to serve as the organization's District 2 representative, which includes the villages of Orchard and Royal and the Verdigris, Royal, Garfield and Sherman Townships. Arehart was elected to represent District 6, which includes the villages of Elgin and the Elgin, Logan, Lincoln and Stanton Townships.

White has spent his life in Antelope County. He graduated from Neligh High School and attended Wayne State College. Much of his professional career was in the grain business in Neligh from 1963 to 2003.

In1974, he got his real estate license and worked in that field in the slower times of the grain business. White continues that work at White Realty and Appraisal, which serves a 24-county area and beyond.

White was instrumental with several others in the development of the Neligh Mill State Historic Site as a major tourist destination in Nebraska.

"I have always had a strong interest in Antelope County and Nebraska history," said White.

Previously, he served for about 10 years on the Laurel Hill Cemetery Board and he grew up attending the former St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Neligh, now part of the Antelope County Museum Complex.

Krutz is originally from Fremont and moved to Ewing to teach elementary school in 1979. From 1987 to 2007, she and her husband Bob operated Krutz Dairy Farm near Orchard. She graduated from Midland College in Fremont and later attained her Master's Degree from Midland University. She taught elementary school in Verdigre from 2000 to 2021.

She is a member of the Orchard Historical Society board, which works to preserve Orchard history and also serves monthly meals to the community as a fundraiser and to foster local fellowship. She has served on the Antelope County Extension Board, and is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta, a teachers' sorority promoting education.

More recently, Krutz worked with a small group in Orchard to develop the Old School Thrift Store, a nonprofit that provides funding for local community needs. Besides offering a variety of goods for sale, the group's aim in starting the thrift store was to preserve the 1922 school building in Orchard that now houses the store. In her spare time, she works on genealogy.

"I have always been interested in history, including the history of rural schools throughout Antelope County. I love research," Krutz said,

Arehart, an Elgin native worked at banks in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. He returned home in 1995 and ranched until 2005 when he took a position with the Bank of Elgin where he currently serves as its president and CEO.  

"Growing up in Elgin and seeing the changes in the community and in the farming and ranching landscape have given me a deeper appreciation in the challenges the generations before us faced and the grit they had. Preserving their artifacts helps in the telling of their stories," Arehart said.

The Antelope County Museum's mission is to collect and preserve the history of Antelope County. The museum complex includes the museum building, housing artifacts and displays about the county's history; the one-room schoolhouse; the log cabin; and St. Peter's Episcopal Church, no longer used for regular worship, but available for tours, events and weddings.

For more information, contact Hanson at 402-887-5010.