Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Dorchester's Chili Cook-Off, Polka Party Both This Weekend

Friday, February 17, 2017

NEWS ROUNDUP: Dorchester's Chili Cook-Off, Polka Party Both This Weekend

Dorchester Firemen's Chili Cook-Off Is Saturday: Tomorrow, Feb. 18, is the Dorchester Volunteer Fire Dept.'s first annual cook-off. This is a major event for Dorchester with a good-sized crowd expected to attend. Those wanting to sample an amazing array of chili soup by great (and maybe a few mediocre) chefs should get to the Community Hall and Legion Hall. Dorchester business owners will be the chili cookers. There will also be sandwiches, hot dogs and cinnamon rolls. Serving will start at 4:30 p.m. Winners are expected to be announced around 8 p.m. A silent auction will be another feature of this community gathering. Free-will donations will also be accepted.

Polka Party This Weekend At Dorchester Legion Hall: Are you ready to party to polka? Another popular polka party will be held at the American Legion Hall this coming Sunday, Feb. 19. Angie Kriz and the Polka Toons will be providing the tunes. Sunday's event will kick off at 3 p.m. and continue until at least 7 p.m. Only a $5 cover and the Legion kitchen will be open. Free-will donations will be accepted. Proceeds will go to the Dorchester American Legion.

Dorchester Farmers' Market Planning Underway: It is time to consider if Dorchester area citizens want a Farmers Market this year. At the last discussion, organizers considered having the market on Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m. Head organizer Laura Sysel requests feedback from the community regarding the best time of the week and location. (Specifically, Sysel is asking if the city park a good location or if the event should be returned to the church parking lot?) Sysel is also looking for some help to run the event. E-mail her at laura.sysel@gmail.com or call 402-580-8533.

Dorchester Baseball And Softball Signups Have Begun: In the late 1800s, Walt Whitman said, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us." Dorchester youth can now begin to register for the village's baseball and softball teams. With practice beginning in about six weeks, it's never too early. You can download the registration form by clicking here. Stephanni Olson-Renn reports that registrations, once completed, should be taken to the Dorchester School or the village office. She also reports, "We are still in need of coaches as well as someone to run the Sugar Shack."

4 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 17, 2017 at 9:09 PM
The chili cookoff is at the community building and legion not the fire hall.
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AnonymousFebruary 18, 2017 at 10:22 AM
Where do we turn in the softball sign up sheet?
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AnonymousFebruary 18, 2017 at 8:53 PM
That was some amazing chili and a great event at the community hall tonight. My favorite chili was a seafood chili, but each and every one was amazing. No kidding.
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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."