Dorchester Times: News Briefs: Chuck Parks Earns 100th Win At DHS

Friday, December 21, 2007

News Briefs: Chuck Parks Earns 100th Win At DHS

Parks Earns 100th Wrestling Win: Chuck Parks, a senior at Dorchester High School, won his 100th wrestling match at the Sutton Invitational on Dec. 20. Chuck is the son of Dave and Donna Parks. Our congratulations to Chuck on this impressive feat.

Easley Graduates from SCC-Milford: Dorchester High School graduate Garret Gene Easley was one of several students who received their degrees from Southeast Community College-Milford held Dec. 14. Easley received his associate of applied science degree with a focus on welding technology.

New Utility Poles Tested Near Dorchester: A company headquartered in Seward is creating power poles that will bend rather than break during ice storms -- and Dorchester is the lastest community to benefit from the innovation. According to KETV Omaha, Laminated Wood Systems has been testing the oddly shaped utility poles outside of town. "What you will notice about the poles is they are rectangular in shape," said company Vice President Doug Kotil. "It's not going to fall down where a round pole possibly could." Kotil said the poles get their strength as boards are spliced together, then glued -- similar to beams seen in some churches and buildings. The result is a pole that can better battle wind and ice. NPPD installed 1,100 of the laminated poles following last December's ice storm.

Did you know?: Here's a bit of trivia for Dorchester residents and natives. Our community can claim a U.S. congressman as one of its own. According PoliticalGraveyard.com, Fred Gustus Johnson, who was born near Dorchester in 1876, was a U.S. congressman who represented Nebraska's old 5th District from 1929-31. Johnson, a Republican, also served as a state senator from the Hastings area, as well as lieutenant governor of the state. Johnson passed away in 1951 and is buried at Hastings' Parkview Cemetary.

9 comments:

AnonymousDecember 23, 2007 at 1:29 AM
Good job Mr. Parks. We need more student athletes to take their roles seriously. I heard that only about half of the boys at DHS are out for winter sports. This would have been reason for riots in Dorchester 25 years ago when I was there.
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AnonymousDecember 24, 2007 at 9:18 PM
We don't need new light poles ........... no wonder my electricity bill is so high....... I'm considering capturing methane from all my cattle and generating my own power ........... that or I'll catch the hot air produced by my wife.....
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AnonymousDecember 24, 2007 at 10:00 PM
cynical richard - Merry Christmas and I hope your wife has gifted you with a frying pan over your head!
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AnonymousDecember 25, 2007 at 8:43 AM
Congratulations Chuck, you are a good athlete and have accomplished a great honor. Good luck in the future.
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AnonymousDecember 25, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Merry Christmas everyone, including Cynical!
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AnonymousDecember 27, 2007 at 7:02 PM
I think it is great how a kid like Chuck can take a sport so serious... How longs has it been since someone from Dorchester has got their 100th..
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AnonymousJanuary 7, 2008 at 2:28 PM
I believe he set the all time Dorchester record with 103 wins.
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AnonymousJanuary 8, 2008 at 8:37 PM
Congrats Garret!!!!! :)--thought I'd give him a little recognition too.
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AnonymousJanuary 13, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Chuck Parks is now at 111 wins the season is still young. To a very respectful young man, My hat off to you Mr. Parks!!!!!!!!!
Good Luck In Hebron Friday nite
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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."