Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Newspaper Spotlights New DPS Superintendent

Thursday, August 18, 2016

NEWS ROUNDUP: Newspaper Spotlights New DPS Superintendent

New DPS Superintendent Featured In Friend Newspaper: The Friend Sentinel has done quite a write-up on Daryl Schrunk, Dorchester Public School's new superintendent. According to the story, Mr. Schrunk said he was very selective when it came to applying for a superintendent’s position. The former Columbus Lakeview Elementary administrator told the newspaper that Dorchester School is "a diamond in the rough," as described by a former Wayne State College instructor. "Schrunk said he has a solid vision for Dorchester and is committed to education. The key is a strategic plan that will allow the community to participate," according to the story. "His plan includes five areas: perseverance, respect, integrity, decision-making and excellence (PRIDE). One of his goals is to find people in the district with whom the students can connect." He adds: "Dorchester needs to be Dorchester no matter what."

Bors Wins National FBLA Award: More than 336 Nebraska students and advisers recently attended the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Atlanta. Nebraska FBLA members competed June 29-July 2 in 70 events. More than 12,000 FBLA members from 46 states, as well as U.S. territories and international chapters attended the conference. Dorchester's Clarissa Bors was one of a handful of participants who were recognized with the FBLA's National Community Service Award. Congratulations to Clarissa.

Dorchester Area Residents Win Czech Day Awards: We are guessing that a high percentage of Dorchester residents, from both town and country, attended the annual Czech Days celebration in Wilber a couple weekends ago. We note that some of those folks came home with awards. Betty Buhr with Horse “Sparky” won first place in the "Horses" division at the Czech Days parade. At the two-mile Duck and Dumplings race, Judy (Kasl) Bors ran it in 18:14, capturing 1st place in her age category, beating her closet competitor by over a minute. Former DHS track standout Janet (Uher) Schrick ran the 2-miler in 15:36 and was 1st in her age group. Dorchester student Carly Rains, 11, took 6th in the 14-and-under division. Clarissa Bors took 8th in the 15-20 group. On the men's side, Jamie Karl ran the two-miler in 13:19, good enough for 2nd place in his category.

No comments:

Post a 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."