Heavy snow causes KJ's Boots & Western Wear in Hershey roof to partially collapse; community rallies

Derek Beck/North Platte Post/Sandhills Post

KJ's Boots & Western Wear roof falls Thursday under the weight of almost 2 feet of snow that fell in the area Thursday.

Hershey, Ne - The S.O.S. came via a phone from a friend of Connie Kuhlman (owner of KJ's Boot's and Western Wear in Hershey) around 5:30pm Friday afternoon. "The roof has collapsed at KJ's" the caller said. "Can you come help get some of the inventory out of the store in case the whole ceiling comes down, and can you bring an enclosed trailer?"

The North Platte area had a record snow on Thursday night dropping 19 inches of snow in North Platte according to the National Weather Service in North Platte, Hershey most certainly had well over a foot as well. All that snow was too much for the western stores roof. Kevin Kuhlman, Connie's husband and co-owner had been clearing snow all day, and the last thing he planned to do Friday afternoon was clear the parking lot at KJ's which was closed all day due to the record snowfall. After he had cleared the lot, he went inside for a moment and when he turned the lights on he saw that the southeast side of the buildings ceiling had partially collapsed. Then came the flood of phone calls to friends and family who raced to Hershey with enclosed trailers and moving dolly's and began clearing out the south part of the store, not knowing how stable the roof was at that point.

South side of KJ's, supports were put up to keep the roof from failing

For about an hour and a half family and friends moved boxes of boots, jeans, straw hats and more to dry areas of the store and to an enclosed trailer. Eventually a portable storage unit came from Sutherland, and it didn't take long before it was also full.

Just after 8pm someone posted a facebook message to the village of Hershey social media page asking for help, and the community did not disappoint.

More than 30 plus people filled KJ's helping move the rest of the inventory to safe places. The Hershey Fire Department also came with members of their volunteer department to help assess the problems in the building and to come up with a temporary plan to stabilize it.

Volunteer helps move boots to storage unit

Volunteers loading trailer and storage unit

KJ's will be closed over the weekend, but hope to have their doors back open soon after repairs are made.

Many of the volunteers who came to the aide of Kuhlman family on Friday night, paused for a picture at the end of the evening's work (courtesy Kimberly Cooley)