Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Dorchester Residents In The News

Thursday, July 20, 2017

NEWS ROUNDUP: Dorchester Residents In The News

Dorchester's Cecrle Featured in Omaha Newspaper: A news story in the July 20 edition of the Omaha World-Herald shines the spotlight on Dorchester's Justin Cecrle and his experience with the Nebraska Figure 8 racing series. The Omaha paper reports that Cecrle won the Open Class season opener on July 8 at the Clay County Fair in Clay Center. Cecrle told the paper: “This is my sixth year in racing. My first year, I bought a cheap 1975 Chevy Monte Carlo. It was pretty much turn-key and I ended up bending the frame and needed to do something different, although I did win Rookie of the Year. I got a rolling chassis from a guy over in Iowa. It was one of the ‘box cars’ that are lighter and faster than the original Figure 8 cars. I still race that car today.” The paper reports that Cecrle said he likes being involved with the local county fair and always enjoyed when the Figure 8s came to the fair. “I like the fairly short season compared to a circle track season and the pay in the Open Class, $800-$1,000 to win, isn’t bad, either,” he said.

Dorchester's Nerud Touts Governor's Trade Efforts: The Associated Press reports that Dan Nerud, a Dorchester farmer and vice president for the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, was part of news conference held earlier this month to kick off Gov. Pete Ricketts' international trade council. Nerud tells the AP that the effort is particularly important because so many of Nebraska's corn markets lie beyond the nation's borders. "We must continue to expand upon these opportunities," Nerud said. "Our competition is not standing still, and neither should we."

DHS Volleyball Fundraiser is Aug. 2: DHS volleyball head coach Ty Peteranetz informs the Times that on Wednesday, Aug. 2, the Raising Cane's location near 56th and Old Cheney will donate 20% of their proceeds to the Dorchester Volleyball program. To get the 20% donation sent to DHS, you will have to tell the cashier that you're supporting the program when you order. If you have questions, contact Peteranetz via the Facebook page set up for this 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."