April 11 Baseball-Themed Fundraiser to Mark Opening Weekend at The Antiquarium

BROWNVILLE, NE – The Brownville Education Center for Arts and Humanities (BECAH) will celebrate the 2026 spring opening of The Antiquarium Saturday, April 11, with a baseball-themed fundraiser.

“Take Me Out to The Antiquarium” invites the public to wear their favorite ball team gear and head to 309 Water Street for an evening of baseball-themed food, facility tours, updates on BECAH’s progress, activities for kids, raffle prizes and the opening of “Once Upon A Time,” an old-time baseball exhibit commemorating the Sherman-Howard County (Nebraska) Baseball League. The event runs from 4 to 7pm. Proceeds will benefit BECAH’s 2026 operating budget.

“This is a great opportunity for folks to get a look at the progress we’ve made on cleaning up the building, our plans for the future and how they can get involved,” said Dale Dickkut, president of the BECAH Board of Directors and the nonprofit’s co-founder.

“Once Upon A Time,” created by Randy “bat man” Lukasiewicz, grew out of genealogical research he conducted after finding a photo of his grandfather as a member of the 1926 Howard County Championship Team. Lukasiewicz, a 1972 graduate of Creighton University, is the founder of the Farwell (Nebraska) Athletic Club and creator of the Farwell Fence Busters baseball team.

The exhibit, which will be on display through June 27, has traveled across Nebraska to more than 30 sites, including libraries, ballparks, banquet halls, museums, gymnasiums, schools, historical societies, parties, diners, studios and exhibition halls. Lukasiewicz will make a short presentation at the event, and attendees will be invited to share their personal stories of baseball “town” teams in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. The Antiquarium will also host a panel discussion featuring local baseball players before the exhibit closes in June.

For more information about “Take Me Out to The Antiquarium,” call 660.744.4646 or visit https://becah.org.

The Brownville Education Center for Arts and Humanities (BECAH) was founded in 2021 when a group of concerned citizens united to purchase the building housing the former Antiquarium Bookstore and its contents, which included more than 25,000 books, manuscripts and images as well as a sizeable collection of artworks from the late Bill Farmer. Tom Rudloff and his sister, Judy, founded the iconic used bookstore in downtown Omaha, Neb., in 1969. Rudloff moved the Antiquarium to an empty schoolhouse in Brownville in 2006. He passed away in 2016 at age 76. BECAH’s mission is to provide arts and humanities experiences to the people and communities of southeast Nebraska, southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri.