Dorchester Times: NEWS BRIEFS: Dorchester Beats U.S. Average In Key Statistics

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

NEWS BRIEFS: Dorchester Beats U.S. Average In Key Statistics

Dorchester Beats U.S. Average For Education and Living Costs, Unemployment: According to Sterling's Best Places, Dorchester fares well in three key measurements for economic competitiveness. Dorchester's cost of living is 22.85% lower than the U.S. average, according to Sterling's 2009 data. Also, Dorchester Public Schools spend $5,669 per student, about $300 less than the average school expenditure in the U.S. of $6,058. "There are about 10 students per teacher in Dorchester," according to the Sterling report. The unemployment rate in Dorchester is 5.60% (U.S. avg. is 8.50%). Recent job growth is "positive," according to Sterling.

Flag Retirement Ceremony Set For June 18: The Dorchester American Legion, Post 264, will hold a flag retirement ceremony on June 18. The ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m., with a covered dish dinner following the service. All color guards, Auxilary units and Sons of American Legion members are welcome and urged to attend. All Dorchester area residents are invited to come early and bring your unserviceable U.S. flags. Flags can also be left with Hersh Talley at The Brand in Crete. For more information, call Larry Kaspar at (402) 946-6711.

More Gold For Karmen Lawver: The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Dorchester junior Karmen Lawver continued her string of first-place finishes this week at the Freeman Invite at Doane College in Crete. Lawver earned another gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 40-3. She then went on to win the discus event with an impressive toss of 124-02. We at the Times again send our congratulations to Karmen for her efforts.

RSVPs For DHS Alumni Banquet Due Soon: The Class of 1989 will host the 2009 DHS Alumni Banquet on Saturday, May 23, at the school. Doors will open at 4 p.m., when tours of the new school will begin. At 5 p.m., school leaders will unveil and dedicate the new bell monument. The banquet will start at 6 p.m. Dinner will include Windsor Loins. The banquet will feature special recognition of former cheerleaders and student managers. Any cheerleader attending the banquet in her cheerleading uniform will receive free admission.) Banquet tickets are $16. Reservations should be mailed by Friday, May 8, to: DHS Alumni Association, P.O. Box 247, Dorchester, NE 68343. Checks should be made payable to the Dorchester Alumni Association.

5 comments:

BobMay 7, 2009 at 1:08 PM
I like these news snipets. Keep it up, Karmen! Great job. I will be at the alumni banquet and hope to see my fellow schoolmates.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Class of 83 alumMay 7, 2009 at 5:39 PM
i will pay for anyone meals if the cheerleaders DONT wear their uniforms.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 8, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Havent read anything about the new snack shack. I would think that it is a pretty important thing to write about. Don't you,Dorchester Times People.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Village DwellerMay 8, 2009 at 4:49 PM
'Anonymous' (2:02 p.m., May 8):

We hesitated to respond since your comment is not germane to the original post.

However, your question presents the perfect opportunity to remind you and other readers that the Dorchester Times is a community blog.

Like other aspects of the community, this free Web site depends on the active participation of Dorchester area residents.

The members of the Times staff are all busy people. We do the best we can with the time and resources we have available.

If there is a story you wish to see posted, please feel free to submit copy and/or photos to Dorchester.Times@gmail.com.

Strong communities take work, effort and initiative -- by all.

It is really just that simple.

We thank you for reading the Times.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Class of 74 alumMay 8, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Hey i bet our cheerleaders were better looking than yours.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

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."