Dorchester Times: Nerud Field Project Underway

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Nerud Field Project Underway

The Nerud Field Project is now underway.

The old concession stand has been moved east of the baseball diamond, to be used as a storage facility, we are told. And last week, the old restrooms that for years stood in near the corner of Colfax Ave. and 10th Streets came tumbling down.

Late last year, the Nerud Field Project Committee announced that a new ball field concession stand and restroom facility were coming soon. Dorchester volunteers plan to construct the 24’ by 40’ building, which will include a covered dining area with picnic tables. The project will help modernize both the football and baseball/softball venues.

No timeline was provided as to when construction on the facility might begin. However, we assume that plans are being made to have the project completed for the first baseball and softball games in mid-May.

We are still urging Times' readers to donate time or money to the project as a way to honor the late Miles Nerud, who passed away in 2007. Nerud brought organized little league baseball to Dorchester in the 1950s and served as one of the founding fathers of the Seward-Fillmore-Saline (SFS) League.

Contributions may be sent to:

NERUD FIELD PROJECT
P.O. Box 67
Dorchester NE 68343

4 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 10, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Oh, c'mon! Let's sit around with our hands out and wait for the federal government to come around with stimulus money for our infrastructure projects. Just like the dependents living in Lincoln, Omaha and the big cities on the coasts.

Good job, project committee. It's nice to see proactive volunteers and leaders in our town.
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AnonymousFebruary 10, 2009 at 6:52 PM
Bob

How do you think this money was raised???

Put our hands out and beg?

I am surprised that you or cynical richard didnt want the kids in the town to raise the money.
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AnonymousFebruary 13, 2009 at 12:17 PM
You know there are so many sarcastic remarks (I hope) that it's a wonder anyone says anything. You just set yourself up for someone to slam you. It's no wonder 'bullying' is such a problem in the younger generation. Where in the world do the kids learn this (and many other ill behaviors)? From their parents, grandparents, etc. What ever happened to being nice to your fellow human beings?
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AnonymousFebruary 13, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Blah, blah, blah.

The real movers and shakers are out there DOING THE PROJECTS, not talking or blogging.

Thanks Mssrs. Weber, Velder and the other drivers behind this project.
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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."