Since 2007: The News, Events, History and People of Our Town, Dorchester, Nebraska
Thursday, June 12, 2008
News Briefs: Dorchester Deluged Again
Dorchester Drenched Again: The Dorchester area was soaked again in a series of violent storms Wednesday night. According to the state's Rainfall Assessment and Information Network (RAIN), the Dorchester area received 2.40 inches of precipitation in last night's soaker. That brings the June rainfall total to more than 6.5 inches -- with 17 more days to go!
DHS Journalism Students Recognized: Several Dorchester High School journalism students walked away with top honors from the recent newspaper and yearbook competition held by the state Journalism Education Association. Schools were not divided by class size, making the DHS students' accomplishments even more impressive. Chelsea Stilwagon and Ashton Kotas received an "excellent" in Yearbook Theme Development and Yearbook Feature Writing. Wendy Boller received an honorable mention in Yearbook Feature Writing and an "excellent" in Yearbook Sports Writing. Earlier this spring, Stilwagon and Kotas were award winners at the NSAA's State Journalism Contest, along with DHS students Logan Mead and Valerie Cochnar. We at the Times tip our collective hat to the budding journalists of DHS.
Bergmeyer, Schweitzer Plan June 21 Wedding: Tiffany Schweitzer and Craig Bergmeyer, both of Dorchester, are planning a June 21 wedding at Milford Mennonite Church. Tiffany is employed at First State Bank in Dorchester. Craig is a 2001 graduate of DHS, and is employed at Jim's Home Health Supplies in Lincoln. Our best wishes go to Craig and Tiffany.
Krivohlaveks Celebrate No. 40: Harold and Virginia Krivohlavek of Dorchester celebrated their 40th anniversary last week. The happy couple was married at the Waverly Methodist Church June 8, 1968. Congrats to Harold and Virginia on this milestone.
Who says Dorchester doesn't have a swimming pool for the kiddies? Just look at the holes in the streets, especially the 6th Great Lake at the intersection SW of the city park.
And when the kids aren't playing in the stagnent water, the mosquitoes are.
Congratulations to the future muckrakers!For a small school, Dorchester seems to win a large number of journalism awards. Maybe one of you will be the future Woodstein. (Woodward and Bernstein of Watergate fame.)
I echo the sentiments of Mencken. However I hope you journalists-to-be are a lot more conservative than the Woodward/Bernstein generation that still controls today's news media. You know ... the same pool of liberal lapdogs who are drooling over the likes of Teddy Kennedy and Barack Hussein Obama. The same ones who want to execute any American who challenges the laughable dogma of man-made global warming. The same ones who worship at the alter of socialism and environmentalism.
There's enough of those types already. We need someone in the press corps who isn't scared to pull back the curtain and expose the politicians, media elite and globalists who've sold out the United States. Is that too much to ask?
As an old man, H. L. Mencken challenges you to live in many places and work in many jobs while you are young. Leave your comfort zone and then return to your town and make it a better place.
Besides, H.L., on his gravestone, Mr. Mencken only challenges us to "forgive some sinner" and "wink at some homely girl." I've done both ... several times.
This is to anonymous who is talking about the fees. Yes we did pass the levy for the 'new school'. Thats what its for... to build the school. They did put in for extra things that they need now. With the price of everything going up what cost 3.50 a gallon when we voted is reaching 4 now. things change and so does cost. get over it.
I would like to know why student fees need to be charged and what they are going for?
The levy override should have covered these expenses.
Are we charging students for fuel? If this is the case, get rid of busing kids to school. Parents choose to live in the country, they should be responsible for getting their kids to school. I forgot, this will never happen, all but one of the board members live in the country.
That’s great news about the DHS students winning the journalism awards. It’s especially poignant given the passing of Tim Russert. I noticed a previous poster remarked that the media is filled with liberal elitists. Yes, many in the national media have Ivy League connections. However, Russert worked for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York before entering journalism. Russert said he told Moynihan that as the son of a garbage man from Buffalo, he felt intimidated by the Ivy Leaguers who worked on the Senator’s staff. Moynihan reportedly said, “What they know you can learn, but what you know, they can never learn.”
To anonymous above........ I agree .......... parents who live in the country should get their kids to school ............. the district would save alot of money ..................... they should also do away with the school lunch program .............. the boys in Washington are picking the same pocket as the state and local governments ............... by the way I support the new school.......... I pay more property taxes than any of you in town..............
The student fees hearing takes place annually. For Dorchester it is mostly a formality as we do not collect many of the fees that are listed (look in your student's handbook). However, by law we are obligated to meet to discuss the amounts that would/could be charged. As for raising fees, only the school lunch rates have risen which was approved at a previous board meeting as far as I can tell.
As for the levy rising. Yes the approval of the bond issue did raise the levy to pay for the new school. However, the school will still need funds to operate aside from the additional building costs supported by the bond. Whether those costs will rise remains to be seen in the fall.
we finally agree on something. That makes me as cool as you. now all i need to do is come up with a good nickname to match yours.
Get rid of the bus routes. Park the buses out back and make storage sheds. That way when we have another auction in twenty years and make another 1000 dollars.
Congratulations Harold and Virginia! Harold, I remember you from your bachelor days. You were quite the Lothario. You even dated a friend of mine. Lesson Learned: It pays to wait for the right person.
State law requires that if your residence if more than 4 miles from the school the school must provide bussing. Since a great many of the farmers are the ones paying the majority of the taxes for the new school, I'd suggest finding another bone to pick besides the bus routes.
Provide bus service or pay mileage to parents for bringing their kids to school. Those are the choices. Tranportation is a cost that is part of having a school.
Transportation is a deal created many years ago by our rural senators. Of course they are going to provide busing, it was a rural society many years ago and still is.
Lets move ahead and provide all studunts with an equal education. If the farm kids are going to get bussed, pay the town parents a stipend which equals the same amount.
At 4 dollars a gallon, this is an issue that needs looked at.
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Main Street Dorchester in 1906 with ponies from Col. Thompson's Elmwood Pony Farm.
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Dorchester Cooperative feed mill fire in the 1950s.
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's West Mills, 1910. The mill, built by some of the area's first settlers, sat on the West Fork Big Blue River and was completed in 1864.
Dorchester-Area Job Listings
Live in Dorchester and still find a career in almost any sector. See today's latest Dorchster-area job listings by clicking here.
Dorchesters's Elmwood Pony Farm and W.J. Thompson, auctioneer, in 1912.
Join Dorchester Community Foundation Today
Want to make Dorchester an even better place to call home? Join the Dorchester Community Foundation. The Foundation and its fund have already spurred several community improvements, such as the city park renovation and the new 'Welcome to Dorchester' signs. To donate, simply click here.
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.
Dorchester's Main Street, 1908, looking north.
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's Methodist Church circa 1889-90, shortly after the building was moved from Pleasant Hill.
Turkey Creek stock farm, circa 1885, south of Dorchester.
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."
Portrait of three boys in costume on a dirt road in Dorchester, early 1900s. One is dressed as a Uncle Sam, while the other two are dressed as Native Americans, complete with feathered headdresses, fringed clothing and bows. Photo by Russell Freidell.
Dorchester Homes For Sale
Dorchester offers friendly, small-community living for families and individuals. The cost of living here is one of the nation's most affordable, while the quality of life is tremendous. Click here for the latest Dorchester area real estate listings.
The "famous Dorchester race car" from the 1930s, built and raced by Henry Sehnert, the village's longtime Ford auto dealer.
Dorchester Items On eBay
See what Dorchester-related items are for sale on eBay by clicking here. It should be noted that the Dorchester Times is neither affiliated with eBay, nor do we receive compensation from the company.
1909 Dorchester baseball team.
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The Old Dorchester School used from 1890-1927.
Current Dorchester Demographics
Click here for the most up-to-date information on Dorchester, including information and statistics on our residents, housing, school, businesses and climate.
Dorchester's train depot as featured in a postcard from the early 1900s.
Today's city hall as it appeared circa 1920, when it housed the Citizens State Bank, post office and Masonic Hall (upstairs).
Gathering at Dorchester's fairgrounds, 1908
TIMES POLL: What Issue Is Most Important When Voting For School Board Members?
RESULTS: Student Behavior/Perfomance -- 48.1%; Teacher/Staff Evaluation -- 16.3%; Cooperation With Village -- 15.4%; New Spending -- 14.4%; School Renovation -- 5.8% (104 votes)
Freeouf's Garage & Livery of Dorchester, circa 1925
Dorchester's Charles Havlat was the very last U.S. soldier killed in action in the European operations of WWII. Private Havlat was shot May 7, 1945, while on patrol in Bohemia, by German soldiers who were unaware a ceasefire had been declared.
TIMES POLL: Bring Back The Summertime Street Dances?
RESULTS: Yes -- 78.4%; No -- 21.6% (102 readers surveyed.)
The Dorchester telephone building, which housed operators and switchboards, as it appeared in the 1920s.
TIMES POLL: When Do You Get In Touch With Old DHS Classmates?
RESULTS: Alumni Tournaments -- 62.7%; Stay in touch regularly -- 18.6%; Homecoming -- 8.5%; Christmas/New Years -- 6.8%; Fourth of July -- 3.4%. (59 votes)
Dorchester Methodist Church around the turn of the 20th century
Dorchester's First Baptist Church (year unknown)
TIMES POLL: What Is Dorchester's Best Quality?
RESULTS: The people of Dorchester -- 32.6%; School -- 18.5%; Close to larger towns -- 17.4%; Cost of living -- 16.3%; Other -- 9.8%; Organizations and businesses -- 5.4%. (92 readers surveyed.)
Dorchester Christian Church, circa 1908
Depot, telegraph office and elevator at Dorchester, circa 1910
Dorchester's Elmwood Pony Farm, owned by W.J. Thompson, 1912
TIMES POLL: What Is The Most Positive Development In Dorchester Lately?
RESULTS: City Park Renovation - 40.2%; More Civic Participation - 22%; Main Street Improvements - 13.6%; Growth Of Co-op - 13.6%; Nerud Field Project - 10.6%. (132 votes.)
Dorchester's July 4th G.A.R. parade, 1908
Dorchester's two-story depot, built in the 1870s, housed the station agent and his family upstairs
TIMES POLL: Which Era Had the Top Male Athletic Talent?
Dorchester Drenched Again: The Dorchester area was soaked again in a series of violent storms Wednesday night. According to the state's Rainfall Assessment and Information Network (RAIN), the Dorchester area received 2.40 inches of precipitation in last night's soaker. That brings the June rainfall total to more than 6.5 inches -- with 17 more days to go! 
Who says Dorchester doesn't have a swimming pool for the kiddies? Just look at the holes in the streets, especially the 6th Great Lake at the intersection SW of the city park.
ReplyDeleteAnd when the kids aren't playing in the stagnent water, the mosquitoes are.
Congratulations to the future muckrakers!For a small school, Dorchester seems to win a large number of journalism awards. Maybe one of you will be the future Woodstein. (Woodward and Bernstein of Watergate fame.)
ReplyDeleteIs there any information available on why the Dorchester Board of Education is having a meeting to discuss STUDENT FEES?
ReplyDeleteWhat will these fees be used for and why are they needed?
The school district has already passed a levy override and we just spent 4 million on a school and we are now asking parents for more money.
My kids should be able to go to this school and survive on the budget we have without having to throw in more.
I echo the sentiments of Mencken. However I hope you journalists-to-be are a lot more conservative than the Woodward/Bernstein generation that still controls today's news media. You know ... the same pool of liberal lapdogs who are drooling over the likes of Teddy Kennedy and Barack Hussein Obama. The same ones who want to execute any American who challenges the laughable dogma of man-made global warming. The same ones who worship at the alter of socialism and environmentalism.
ReplyDeleteThere's enough of those types already. We need someone in the press corps who isn't scared to pull back the curtain and expose the politicians, media elite and globalists who've sold out the United States. Is that too much to ask?
Dear 90s grad,
ReplyDeleteAs an old man, H. L. Mencken challenges you to live in many places and work in many jobs while you are young. Leave your comfort zone and then return to your town and make it a better place.
My friend, if you only knew...
ReplyDeleteGood luck future DHS journalists!
ReplyDelete"The media is only as good as its corporate owners."
Besides, H.L., on his gravestone, Mr. Mencken only challenges us to "forgive some sinner" and "wink at some homely girl." I've done both ... several times.
ReplyDeletePlease tell us.....
ReplyDeleteRead more of my writings. You may find a compatriot.
ReplyDeleteThis is to anonymous who is talking about the fees. Yes we did pass the levy for the 'new school'. Thats what its for... to build the school. They did put in for extra things that they need now. With the price of everything going up what cost 3.50 a gallon when we voted is reaching 4 now. things change and so does cost. get over it.
ReplyDeleteIs rudeness necessary?
ReplyDeleteAn explanation of the fee situation would have been sufficient.
The term “get over it” is a phrase that reflects the coarsening of our culture.
to anonymous...
ReplyDeleteYou answered nothing.
I would like to know why student fees need to be charged and what they are going for?
The levy override should have covered these expenses.
Are we charging students for fuel? If this is the case, get rid of busing kids to school. Parents choose to live in the country, they should be responsible for getting their kids to school. I forgot, this will never happen, all but one of the board members live in the country.
That’s great news about the DHS students winning the journalism awards. It’s especially poignant given the passing of Tim Russert. I noticed a previous poster remarked that the media is filled with liberal elitists. Yes, many in the national media have Ivy League connections. However, Russert worked for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York before entering journalism. Russert said he told Moynihan that as the son of a garbage man from Buffalo, he felt intimidated by the Ivy Leaguers who worked on the Senator’s staff. Moynihan reportedly said, “What they know you can learn, but what you know, they can never learn.”
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous above........ I agree .......... parents who live in the country should get their kids to school ............. the district would save alot of money ..................... they should also do away with the school lunch program .............. the boys in Washington are picking the same pocket as the state and local governments ............... by the way I support the new school.......... I pay more property taxes than any of you in town..............
ReplyDeleteThe student fees hearing takes place annually. For Dorchester it is mostly a formality as we do not collect many of the fees that are listed (look in your student's handbook). However, by law we are obligated to meet to discuss the amounts that would/could be charged. As for raising fees, only the school lunch rates have risen which was approved at a previous board meeting as far as I can tell.
ReplyDeleteAs for the levy rising. Yes the approval of the bond issue did raise the levy to pay for the new school. However, the school will still need funds to operate aside from the additional building costs supported by the bond. Whether those costs will rise remains to be seen in the fall.
good ole cynical dick,
ReplyDeletewe finally agree on something. That makes me as cool as you.
now all i need to do is come up with a good nickname to match yours.
Get rid of the bus routes. Park the buses out back and make storage sheds.
That way when we have another auction in twenty years and make another 1000 dollars.
Keep up the good work dick, we will get them yet
Happy Anniversary, Harold & Virginia!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Harold and Virginia! Harold, I remember you from your bachelor days. You were quite the Lothario. You even dated a friend of mine. Lesson Learned: It pays to wait for the right person.
ReplyDeleteState law requires that if your residence if more than 4 miles from the school the school must provide bussing. Since a great many of the farmers are the ones paying the majority of the taxes for the new school, I'd suggest finding another bone to pick besides the bus routes.
ReplyDeleteProvide bus service or pay mileage to parents for bringing their kids to school. Those are the choices. Tranportation is a cost that is part of having a school.
ReplyDeleteTransportation is a deal created many years ago by our rural senators. Of course they are going to provide busing, it was a rural society many years ago and still is.
ReplyDeleteLets move ahead and provide all studunts with an equal education. If the farm kids are going to get bussed, pay the town parents a stipend which equals the same amount.
At 4 dollars a gallon, this is an issue that needs looked at.