Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Ron Velder Named Ag-Business Man Of The Year

Sunday, March 20, 2016

NEWS ROUNDUP: Ron Velder Named Ag-Business Man Of The Year

Velder Named Agri-Business Man Of The Year: Congratulations to Ron Velder of Farmers Cooperative. Velder, an alumnus of DHS (Class of 1972) was recognized at the 48th annual Seward County Ag Recognition Banquet last week during National Ag Week. For his vision and leadership, Velder was named the agri-businessman of the year before roughly 500 people. Velder has been employed by Farmers Cooperative since 1973 and became CEO in 1994. The Seward newspaper writes: "Velder has always put the farmer’s interest first and has made sound business decisions that have served Farmer’s Cooperative well. Velder has provided that unique blend of leadership and vision needed to consolidate and grow a farmer owned cooperative organization that serves the needs of more than 6,500 member producers." Congratulations, Ron.

Sponsors Of Dorchester Alumni Basketball Tournament: This weekend's DHS Alumni Tournament once again brought together alumni and old friends from far and near. (UPDATE: An e-mail received late Sunday afternoon reports that Drew Denker's team won the tournament, taking the championship contest 56-51.) It also provided an important to our main street, the Dorchester Foundation, the UMC, and the DHS athletic program. The tournament was sponsored by: Heath Sports and Tees (Crete), Stutzman Digging, Farmers Cooperative, First State Bank, The Well, Spring Creek Repair and Farm Supply, Runza (Crete), BZ Construction, Clark's Lawn Service, City Slickers Bar and Grill, Papik Seeds, Holly Well Drilling, Barley's Specialties, Rains Simmentals, Weber Feedyards LLC, JR's Stor-All, Complete Ag, Tyser Auto Sales, and Novak Auction Service.

Dorchester Siren Testing On Monday Night: Dorchester will be testing its community siren emergency communication system on Monday, March 21, at 7 p.m. When you hear the sirens, remember it is only a test.

Did The County Clerk's Office Send Confusing Signals?: Regarding the filing deadline for Dorchester school board and village board seats, it seems mixed information came from the county clerk's office. In a recent Times story, one reader wrote: "It's unfortunate that the individuals posting their great ideas didn't put their name on the ballot for election." That remark drew this response: "When you have misinformation coming from the county clerk's office, I don't think you can blame people for not putting their name on the ballot. I know of at least three people who called the clerk's office and were told they had until August." A Times staffer was given a similar story by an individual who called the county clerk's office himself. Taxpayers count on government (local, county, state and federal) to have correct information available at all times. We hope this situation isn't repeated.

1 comment:

AnonymousMarch 21, 2016 at 8:10 PM
Great job, Ron! Good job sponsors!!!
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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."