Dorchester Times: This Sunday, Oct. 8, Is Dorchester Clean-Up Day

Thursday, October 5, 2017

This Sunday, Oct. 8, Is Dorchester Clean-Up Day

To address unkempt yards or untidy properties, Dorchester residents have organized Village Clean-Up Campaign.

And it comes to a climax this Sunday, October 8, when volunteers will hit Dorchester's streets to help those residents whose properties have gotten away from them.

According to organizer Carol Olsen, Dorchester United Methodist Church members will be meeting at the church parking lot around 9:15 a.m. Sunday. They will then depart the church to help fellow residents with their property issues.

Anyone wanting to pitch in to help, can join by being at the church parking lot no later than 9:15 a.m. Volunteers will break up into groups and go tackle any Dorchester property issues. Volunteers are being asked to wear bright clothing and bring gloves. Then the group will meet back at the church for a potluck lunch.

You don't want your property sticking out like an ugly, swollen thumb. So all Dorchester residents are encouraged to take the time to clean their yards and other properties to show that they have pride in Dorchester.

For more details and to volunteer for this clean-up effort, contact Carol Olson at 402-656-3615 or cjolson@farmersco-operative.com.

3 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 4, 2017 at 11:45 AM
So great to see residents take initiative like this! Nice work!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Carol OlsonOctober 4, 2017 at 3:14 PM
United Methodist Church members will be 'leaving the building', Sunday, October 8th to help their fellow residents with their property issues. Anyone wanting to pitch in to help, can join up in the church parking lot at about 9:15am. We will break up into groups & go tackle some issues. Wear bright clothing & bring gloves. Then we will meet back at the church for a potluck lunch. Hope to see you Sunday.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Carol OlsonOctober 11, 2017 at 2:14 PM
Community clean-up exceeded expectations. Twenty-six people of all ages chipped in to help clean up Dorchester. From weeds next to the railroad, to weeds & volunteer trees under the Welcome sign, to helping a young family load concrete pieces to cutting volunteer trees & trimming trees in several yards. Thanks to Don Hoffman for opening the tree pile, at least 15 pickup & trailer loads were dumped on Sunday. Thanks to everyone who helped, all those who made covered dishes, the Foundation for donating pulled pork & those who prepared the meal. An all around great day.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add 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."