Dorchester Times: DACA Meets Oct. 9, Discusses Times' Offer

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

DACA Meets Oct. 9, Discusses Times' Offer

The Dorchester Area Community Association held its monthly meeting Oct. 8 at the Dorchester Community Hall. Among the key topics discussed by DACA members was an offer made by the staff of the Dorchester Times to donate the Times' Web site to DACA for use as an online bulletin board for the community.

(Editor's note: Earlier this month, we at the Times wrote DACA president Carol Olson to report to her that the Times staff was considering ceasing publication of the Times. The primary reason for this consideration was the busy schedules of our staff members and their families, as well as the difficulty in producing new news reports.)

According to Olson, the seven members at last night's DACA meeting discussed the Dorchester Times' offer to turn over the Web site's maintenance to the organization. Olson said the discussion of the Times' offer "drew the strongest reaction of anything discussed in quite some time."

"All commented on the Times being the ‘best thing that has happened to Dorchester in a long time,'” Olson said. She stated that none of the attending members of DACA had enough knowledge of the blogger program to comfortably maintain the Times' Web site. However, the organization's members agreed to contribute stories from various organizations, clubs and other interests, such as Dorchester Public School, DACA, DACF, the City Office, Legion, Legion Auxiliary, Dorchester Methodist Church, Dorchester Fire Dept., FBLA, 4H, and others.

The Times has agreed to this arrangement and will continue to publish stories on a regular basis.

Also discussed at the DACA meeting was the "Morning with Santa" event; Crete Cares project; Dorchester Area Roadside Trash pick-up; and the Blue River Family Resource Holiday Giving project.

The Times looks forward to publishing stories written by our contributing reporters, as well as continuing to run stories by our own staff members.

4 comments:

AnonymousOctober 11, 2007 at 11:36 AM
"THANK YOU" Dorchester Times and DACA. I know what a time commitment the Times must be but I would like to second the motion that this site is one of the most positive things to happen in our village in a LONG time. Dorchester Times staffers -- we appreciate your efforts, time and commitment to make our town better.
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AnonymousOctober 12, 2007 at 4:41 PM
I graduated from Dorchester High around 50 years ago. I didn't realize my ties were so tight until I started reading the Times. The Times draws us all back to our roots. I would really hate to see it stop, but understand the amount of work it takes to keep it going.Also recognize that not everyone has the expertise necessary to keep it going. Would it help if you charged a small fee for the privilege of having access to such a great publication? I, for one, would be willing to give a few bucks.
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AnonymousOctober 14, 2007 at 4:23 PM
Ok, local clubs & organizations, here's your chance to let everyone know who you are & what you've been doing. With everyone's busy schedule these days no one has the time to do all the research & writing to keep up a blog such as this. But if everyone does their part, this blog can still be a very important part of our community. Most clubs & organizations meet monthly, each one could appoint a 'reporter' that would submit monthly news. How about it? Fire Dept, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Legion, Auxiliary, School, FBLA, Booster Club, Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, DACA, DACF, Library, City Office & maybe a local Historian to add some little known community facts. It's easy to sit back, let someone else do the work & criticize. Let's not let this Blog die without putting forth some real effort.
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Village DwellerOctober 16, 2007 at 11:29 PM
We appreciate the encouraging comments.

Indeed, upkeep of this Web site does require a good deal of time. That is why the Times' staff decided to take a week-long break and give a break to the two editors who update the Times' Web page.

We could never accept a fee for the service we provide. But we do welcome news stories submitted by organizations and individuals. (Send stories to Dorchester.Times@gmail.com.)

It is our goal to serve as the top news source and communications platform for Dorchester area residents -- both past and present.

And we believe our loyal readers are counting on us to continue our Web-based service.

However, we readily admit that we will need help from others in the community if the Times is to be successful over the long term.
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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."