Dorchester Times: DVFD Fundraiser Draws Huge Numbers

Sunday, February 19, 2017

DVFD Fundraiser Draws Huge Numbers

Saturday evening, Feb. 18, the Dorchester Volunteer Fire Department held its first annual chili cook-off at Dorchester's Community Hall and American Legion Hall. (UPDATE: The winner was Brant Pracheil, while Sharon and Harold Axline took second place; coming in third place was Velder Taxidermy and Big T's Restaurant.)

From all reports e-mailed to the Dorchester Times, the fundraiser was a smashing success.

One source told us that she estimated around 375 attending the cook-off.

A freak February warm spell likely helped attendance as temperatures pushed 70 degrees as the doors opened at 4:30 p.m.

York's Max Country radio station, 104.9 FM, was even there to provide coverage.

This was a major event for Dorchester's volunteer firefighters and rescue personnel, intended to help provided much needed funds for new equipment and to help cover expenses.

Those who attended were able to sample an amazing array of nine different chili soup concoctions, made by Dorchester business owners. (Correction: There were nine servers, not eight as we originally reported.)

Businesses that took part in the event were:

City Slicker's Restaurant;
Novak Auction Service
Big T's BBQ Pit Stop;
Farmers Cooperative;
Sharon Axline's Hair Salon;
Tyser Auto Sales/Tyser Repair;
BP Agronomics (Brant Pracheil);
Bill Velder Taxidermy; and
Mrs. G's Country Cooking.

Besides chili, the gathering featured sandwiches, hot dogs and cinnamon rolls (donated by Mrs. G's Country Cooking), along with a silent auction. The auction's top prize was a seven-night stay in a Florida Keys condo, donated by Greg and Becky Tyser. Other items an engraved bench, oil changes, radios, fire extinguishers, quilts, lawn chairs, meal certificates at local eateries, toy farm implements, and many other items.

The Times has not yet received word on a dollar amount regarding total funds raised last night, but those attending who we've spoken to said the fundraiser was one of the best community events in recent memory. One told us, "We wish this were a monthly event."

Must have been some good chili!

7 comments:

DJTFebruary 19, 2017 at 11:43 AM
IT WAS YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE.
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AnonymousFebruary 19, 2017 at 11:50 AM
Do you have the winners of the cook off?
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AnonymousFebruary 19, 2017 at 11:50 AM
Do you have the winners of the cook off?
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Fulton St. GalFebruary 19, 2017 at 9:12 PM
My votes would have been:

1. Farmers Coop
2. Velders
3. City Slickers
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AnonymousFebruary 19, 2017 at 9:53 PM
i would have voted for the one with pulled pork. Mrs G's i think it was.
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AnonymousFebruary 19, 2017 at 9:57 PM
How many towns the size of Dorchester could pull off something like this with those types of attendance numbers in this age of social media and cars that can be in Lincoln in 20 minutes? Good job Dorchester, you are a winner in my book.
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Mrs. GFebruary 21, 2017 at 6:47 PM
There were actually 9 chili cookers, you left out Novak Auction Service. I agree it was a huge success and I'm glad that so many people from the area supported, participated in and donated to this event. I look forward to next years event.
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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."