Dorchester Times: Renew Dorchester Announces Student Essay Contest

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Renew Dorchester Announces Student Essay Contest

This week, the Times was notified via e-mail of an essay contest being sponsored by Renew Dorchester, the new non-profit group. We are impressed and fully support this idea to get young people engaged in Dorchester by gathering their ideas and input.

The announcement from Renew Dorchester follows in its entirety:

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Renew Dorchester – a new, non-profit charity – invites Dorchester Public School students (grades 3-12) to take part in the first-ever “Dorchester: Vision 2030” essay contest. The organization wants to hear from Dorchester students regarding how they hope to see Dorchester improve and grow during the next dozen years – by the year 2030.

The contest has three divisions, each with its own minimum-length requirement and cash awards:

Grades 3, 4 and 5

At least 350 words (at least 1 full page). First-place receives $75 cash; 2nd place $50; 3rd place $25.

Grades 6, 7 and 8

At least 550 words (at least 1.5 pages). First-place receives $100 cash; 2nd place $50; 3rd place $25.

Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12

At least 750 words (at least 2 full pages). First-place receives $200 cash; 2nd place $50; 3rd place $25.

SPECIFIC TOPICS – At the top of their essay, students should write their name and grade level. Essays should answer the following:

What do you hope Dorchester looks like in the year 2030 – or 12 years from now?
How can technology help Dorchester overcome current challenges?
What can you and other students do right now to help improve Dorchester?

DEADLINE – Essays are due no later than December 1, 2018. Essays may be submitted to any Renew Dorchester board member, or sent to: Renew Dorchester, P.O. Box 64, Dorchester, NE 68343. (Mailed essays must be postmarked by December 1.)

Renew Dorchester’s board is comprised of: Deanna Bird, Brett Boller, Shelly Bruha, Tiernan Creamer, Julie Holly, Jamie Karl, Chris Kirkpatrick, Marvin Kohout, Kyle Lehr, Amanda Nohavec, Cory Schlueter, Daryl Schrunk, and Diane Velder.

Renew Dorchester is a member-driven, 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to enhance the community’s quality of life, while expanding Dorchester’s opportunities for the future. Membership is open to all; applications are available in the Dorchester Post Office lobby or emailing RenewDorchester@gmail.com. Donations, including membership dues, are fully tax deductible.

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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."