Dorchester Times: OPEN FORUM: May 2012

Sunday, May 13, 2012

OPEN FORUM: May 2012

We are reviving this feature from the past. It's the open forum section for Times readers.

Here is your chance to make your statement or announcement on any issue.

Any topic is fair game, although the Times' comment policy still applies. (Please see the left-hand column -- and please keep it classy.)

The Dorchester Times' website is averaging nearly 200 a day, according to an independent tracking service. T
hat means the Times is the perfect forum to air your thoughts, news tips, announcements, complaints and concerns.

So go ahead and sound off.

We are listening -- and so are many others in the community.

13 comments:

TOWN CRIERMay 13, 2012 at 3:23 PM
Since you guys at the Times don't have the guts to bring up this topic, I will. I'm concerned about the growing number of Dorchester parents who are either transferring their kids to other schools or allowing them to play sports in other towns. For some reason, these kids are having troubles fitting in at Dorchester and I'm guessing the parents think driving them to another town or school will solve the problem. This is the grownup equivalent of "taking my ball and going home." THe truth is theres a 99.99% chance the problem won't go away and will likely only become worse in another town or another school. I've always said the problem in the country today is everyone thinks his/her kid is so special and so faultless until it's too late to address the kid's issues.

If there are problems within Dorchester's school, let's fix them. If there are issues with the athletic programs, let's address them. But shipping your Dorchester kid elsewhere will only lead to bigger problems down the road. You're giving your child the idea that you can run from your problems,,, and we adults should all know that's not the way the world works.
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AnonymousMay 13, 2012 at 8:59 PM
Town Crier how do you suggest the school fixes the problem?
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AnonymousMay 13, 2012 at 9:02 PM
Maybe the school needs to look into other things like consolidation or cooping classes and activities. This is what schools out west are doing to keep people in their schools.
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AnonymousMay 13, 2012 at 10:00 PM
I want to commend the Dorchester shop class for installing the new backstop at the baseball diamond. Great work guys. You git r' done!
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TOWN CRIERMay 13, 2012 at 10:16 PM
How would I fix the problems? Sit down with the parents and tell them their kids are no more special than the others in the class or on the team,,, you'd be amazed how easily that will solve problems, regardless of whether the kid is the troublemaker or just can't seem to "fit in."
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AnonymousMay 13, 2012 at 10:56 PM
what if it isn't the parents or the kids that are the problem? What if it is a few of the teachers at school causing our kids to transfer?
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Pewee CoachesMay 13, 2012 at 11:03 PM
We would also like to thank the shop class for installing the new backstop at the field and also painting the backstop and dugout benches. They look good. Also thanks to all that showed up last thursday night to help with the field clean up and John Bruha for taking time to grade the field for every game. Our field is a work in progress and hopefully we can get it to look and feel like one of the best in the area for the little leaguers. We need the community to step up the the plate (no pun intended) and help our softball and baseball programs out with donations or even coming out to cheer our teams on this summer. Without your help our teams can only go so far.
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TOWN CRIERMay 14, 2012 at 9:11 AM
To anonymous.......

I may very well be on YOUR side when it comes to teachers -- i had a few bad ones when I was in crete and i know there is at least one less-than-stellar teacher at DHS right now teaching my children. BUt...

HAVE YOU GONE TO A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TO COMPLAIN?

If not, you have little room to gripe. Im always amazed by how no one ---- NO ONE --- shows up to board meetings at the school or town hall. Amazing how much we all complain to everyone but not to the folks who can address the problem.
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AnonymousMay 14, 2012 at 3:07 PM
Its not about "taking my ball and going home," rather it is about getting a fair shake. Complaining to the school board won't help as there kids get more than a fair shake (as well as most teachers). Until that changes, my kids will go elsewhere.
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AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 12:23 PM
The problem is with the school and the parents!! If your going to ship your kids to a different school out of town then move there! Otherwise get off your high horse and support your town and get some changes made in the school. Also, with the school in Dorchester you need to take a step back and take a look at some of the issuses in the school. One of the biggest problems is the bullying going in the school that they can't seem to get taken care of. Also the dress code that applies to the childrens that is not being obeyed but certain teachers in school. I may not be rich and I may not be popular but at least I can say I'm happy with choices that I made. I didn't have to make myself better then the next person to make myself feel better. Lets teach our children the same thing.
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Omaha Resident/DHS gradMay 16, 2012 at 4:06 PM
I don't live in Dorchester anymore, so I should just shut up. Still I feel the need to say how disappointed I am in the DHS senior pictors that were published in The Crete News. Some of the kids looked like they were going to an Ozzy Osbourne concert. C'mon parents. Be a parent -- not a buddy to your kids. Show me a parent who lets their kids dress in rags for a senior picture and I'll show you a parent who's still supporting their kid when the kid is 40!
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AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 9:39 PM
If you have a good idea for how to get students involved and make the school better, you should go to a meeting, call a school board member, or call the administrators, etc. Complaining to your family and friends will do nothing. A lot of people are quick to criticize. Where was your name on the ballot? I don't see you running for school board and if you think you could do better, then you should try to do something about it... or stop complaining.

With those on the school board, it is not fair to attack their children saying they are getting more than a "fair shake". Since when do we see favoritism in elementary. From what I have seen, I think the elementary teachers do a great job of treating the kids equally.

Bullying is everywhere, but that obviously doesn't make it right. I hope the school staff is making the extra effort to be on the look-out. As a parent you should also talk to your child about bullying. It is not solely the schools job to raise our children. We should be teaching our children good morals and values and not relying on the school for that. They should be our back-up and re-enforcers.
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AnonymousMay 18, 2012 at 10:30 PM
why dont all these criers support the only local business in this little bitty village. REALLY!!!!!!!!!MAIN STREET looks like a ghost town thanks to Bens ,Joes Place , First State Bank & Donna's Hair Creations we still have a few left !!!Support them so they dont leave also !!!But thats right the people of Dorchester have not supported these businesses HOW MANY CAN SAY THEY HAVE AND HOW MANY TAKE THERE TUSHYS OUT OF TOWN FOR FOOD DRINKS AND HAIRCUTS Pathetic at least my town supports there locals !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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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."