Dorchester Times: More Details On Sept. 16 Church Auction

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

More Details On Sept. 16 Church Auction

As reported previously, the Dorchester United Methodist Church’s 20th Annual Community Auction will be held September 16.

More information is now available regarding some of the items that will be on the auction block, including: Callaway "Big Bertha" golf clubs and bag; a two-day, two-night fishing trip for people; ready-to-grill Nebraska Beef from Weber's Feed Yard; an oak shelf with quilt bar; John Deere wall decor; southeast Nebraska cookbook collection; Mexican fiesta for six; and a duck and dumpling dinner.

The day's event also includes a BBQ and bake sale. The BBQ will begin at 11:30 a.m. For more information on donating auction items, contact Vicky Parks 946-4691 or Carol Olson 946-3531.

Cash donations of all amounts are being accepted. For information on cash donations, contact Bernice Weber at 946-4191.

Also, all the children are invited to bring a cake for the cake auction. For information on the cake auction, call Lindsay Zoubek at 946-2198. Finally, bring your surplus garden produce to the free-will country market.

4 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 5, 2007 at 11:49 PM
I like the Times best when it functions as the community bulletin board, but that's just one person's opinion. This auction looks like a great event! I plan to take part.
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AnonymousSeptember 6, 2007 at 8:16 PM
I totally agree! It seems like this has been one big propaganda machine for the new school. The school may be needed, but the flack people having a different opinion has been completely unfair. Let's get back to being Dorchester
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Village DwellerSeptember 6, 2007 at 9:45 PM
Anonymous – Here is our quick response to your accusation that the Times has been "one big propaganda machine" for the new school: Hardy, har, har!

The fact is, the Times has been a sounding board for the opposition. Critics of the school renovation plan have had a voice thanks to this Web site. Folks on both sides of the issue are better educated on the school issue because of the dialogue that has taken place here. As a result, there will be fewer hard feelings down the road.

We have published every comment and letter-to-the-editor written by opponents. Moreover, we have withheld our own opinions on the issue. The fact is, we have been as fair as possible.

Yes, we did frequently report on the activities of DSIP because they are a legitimate, organized group who happens to support the renovation plan. They were and are newsworthy.

The opponents, on the other hand, had no formal organization. No leadership. No individuals with the guts or enterprise to formally organize. They only produced scare tactics –- not worth of our time or effort. (We note that Mr. Bolton and Mr. Wolfe of York did ask intelligent questions and make noteworthy points, in our minds.)

Usually we shut up and take your abuse, Anonymous. Not this time.

In our book, your criticism is invalid, inept and impotent.
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Village DwellerSeptember 6, 2007 at 9:49 PM
With that off our chest, did we mention only auction-related comments will be published on this post from here on?
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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."