Dorchester Times: DACA Reviews July Fourth Celebration

Monday, July 16, 2007

DACA Reviews July Fourth Celebration

On Tuesday, July 10, the Dorchester Area Community Association (DACA) held its regular monthly meeting.

DACA leaders recapped the July 4 celebration. DACA president Carol Olson reported that 22 walkers participated in the Independence Day two-mile fun walk. Shelley Bruha noted that 25 vehicles (mostly tractors) were on display at the Show and Shine. Bruha said that while he was pleased with the attendance, but he would like to see it expanded to include more cars & trucks.

Steve Ottmann reported that the Sons of the Legion served approximately 280 people at the BBQ held at the Legion. Dorothy Beekley said there were more Bingo players than any prior year, and that nearly $250 was raised at the event. Marvin Kohout reported that approximately 60 children participated in the Kid’s Tractor Pull -- and Pat O’Brien commented that there were more children present in Dorchester than at some County Fairs.

Cory Woerner said he and Steve Parks were very busy loading and unloading kids from the train ride, provided by Harold Jones of Crete. The parade featured over 40 entries, including several floats, as well as antique cars and tractors. The music in the park was by Shawn Cole, while the Jr. Auxiliary provided ice cream and cupcake. The Crete ATA Martial Arts Academy furnished Taekwondo entertainment prior to the fireworks.

The cost of the Fourth of July events are as follows:

Fireworks -- $2,500
Bounce House -- $375 (Sponsored by Tyser Repair, West Side Saloon, Saline State Bank-Dorchester, R Lounge, Dorchester Grocery, and Donna’s Hair Creation.
Train -- $175
Music -- $200
Tractor Pull -- $395 (Sponsored by Farmers Cooperative.)

Some of the fundraising profits include:

Fireworks Sales -- $1,028
Mailed Donations/Business Buckets & Free-Will Offering -- $1906
Bingo -- $250

After chairing or co-chairing the 4th of July event for the past years, Carol Olson announced she is resigning that position. DACA members then agreed that it would be best to find a chairperson to oversee the entire July 4 celebration, as well as a chairperson for advertising and a chairman for individual events. Area residents who are interested in any of these positions are asked to contact any DACA member or attend the next meeting.

DACA meets the second Tuesday of every month at the Community Center at 7 p.m. For more information or to join, e-mail Dale Hayek at dhayek@farmersco-operative.com

2 comments:

AnonymousJuly 17, 2007 at 3:48 PM
The generosity of the community becomes apparent every 4th of July. Nice job Dorchester and DACA.
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AnonymousJuly 19, 2007 at 7:59 AM
I would like to Thank and congratulate Carol Olson for her time spent organizing the 4th of July activities for the last several years. She has done a great job organizing the seperate events. It will be interesting to see who steps up and fills her shoes. She contributes generously to the community and we should be appreciative of her involvement.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."