Dorchester Times: Renew Dorchester Announces Essay Contest Winners

Monday, February 11, 2019

Renew Dorchester Announces Essay Contest Winners

The following is a news release sent to the Times by Renew Dorchester. We are publishing it in its entirity.

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Renew Dorchester – a new, non-profit charity organization – has announced the winners of its student essay contest.

The “Vision 2030” essay contest asked Dorchester Public School students (grades 3-12) for ideas on how Dorchester could improve and grow during the next dozen years, by the year 2030. According to Renew Dorchester officials, the group received many good ideas, especially from the elementary classes, which had near 100% participation.

The contest was divided into three divisions, each with its own minimum-length requirement and cash awards. Below are the winners as determined by a panel of judges. (Names on the essays were covered to ensure impartiality.)

Grades 3, 4 and 5

1st place -- Blake Cerny ($75)

2nd place -- Hadley Brandt ($50)

3rd place -- Livia Schweitzer ($25)

Grades 6, 7 and 8

1st place -- Baylor Behrens ($100)

2nd place (tie) -- Andrea Pavlish ($25)

Hailey Schweitzer ($25)

3rd place -- Atley Zoubek ($25)

Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12

1st place -- Alli Novak ($200)

2nd place -- Kyra Creamer ($50)

3rd place -- Ben Nohavec ($25)

The winning essays were formally announced to the Dorchester Public School student body at a Feb. 6 pep rally held in the school gymnasium. Renew Dorchester Secretary/Treasurer Deanna Bird, along with Renew Dorchester board member and Dorchester Superintendent Daryl Schrunk, presented the cash awards.

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 – including its main street and housing. Renew Dorchester is an affiliate of the Nebraska Main Street Network.

Membership to Renew Dorchester is open to all individuals who care about the village and its future. Applications are available by e-mailing RenewDorchester@gmail.com, or calling 402-418-1021. All donations, including membership dues, are fully tax deductible.

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Below are excerpts from the winning essays.

Grades 3-5

1st place -- Blake Cerny

“First, I think we need to pave all roads in our village. This way everyone can have the same advantage of nice road, not just some people. … Second, I would like to see a grocery store (so) we don’t have to drive to Crete or Lincoln to buy our food. Last, I feel we need to build newer homes. Most of the homes in Dorchester are 100 years old and need upgrades. This is not the 1990s anymore. But I don’t want us to grow as big as Lincoln. I like Dorchester being a small community.”

2nd place -- Hadley Brandt

“I want people to clean up their yards so they look nice and more people want to move here. … We need a website to give people all over town information about houses that are for sale and other things that are happening. Technology is growing quickly, so the town needs to grow with the technology.”

3rd place -- Livia Schweitzer

“One of my favorite things about Dorchester is that it is very calm and peaceful. Dorchester has lots of friendly people. I think that it is cool that when I pass someone I can smile and say “hi” and know they will say “hi” back. … By the year 2030, I think we can add paved roads. One of those roads could lead to a drive-in theater. There could be a bowling alley, a gym for training, (and) a place with free wi-fi that served milkshakes.”

Grades 6-8

1st place -- Baylor Behrens

By the year 2030, it would be marvelous to see some more entrepreneurs settle and start more businesses. … Since I was very young, I have dreamt of towns that have every house up-to-date and filled with pleasant people greeting you as you pass by. I speculate that Dorchester will be the first town to achieve this … Dorchester will become a very well-known town. … Digital advertising is just one way to spread the word.”

2nd place (tie) -- Andrea Pavlish

“Most kids can only dream of living in a place like Dorchester. The future splash pad, affable people and a remarkable school. … In 12 years, I will be 23 years old. (By then), I could be observing construction of an apartment building in Dorchester. Dorchester has this small-town spark that keeps us going and makes us want to improve every single day. … 2030 will be a year that will see more buildings built and streets paved, with a new sign that says: “Dorchester, population 1,000.” To get there, you need attractions.”

2nd place (tie) -- Hailey Schweitzer

“What other students and I can do right now to improve Dorchester is participate in school sports and show Longhorn Pride. We can show other communities that Dorchester is a great place to live by respecting their property when we visit other towns. We can also keep our town looking nice by participating and organizing community clean-ups. The community residents should all participate in town events such as the Fourth of July celebration. Young community members can watch how the more experienced members run and support community services. Dorchester’s FBLA are great community leaders to look up to.”

3rd place -- Atley Zoubek

“I’ve lived in Dorchester my whole life and absolutely love it! If we can get more houses built, or even fixed up, I see our town growing with great people who others can trust. … In the future, I hope to see Dorchester get a bakery, grocery store, and maybe even a bowling alley. … We need to use technology better to promote events and get the word out more efficiently to help more people get involved in our community. We can also promote our businesses more.”

Grades 9-12

1st place -- Alli Novak

“I hope that by 2030, Dorchester will have paved streets throughout the town, a grocery store, and maybe a truck stop. … Since Dorchester is near two major highways, a truck stop would attract people to our beautiful town. … One way for students to help improve Dorchester right now is by fixing up some of the broken-down buildings, like the old telephone office, the building next to the bank, and the building catty-corner to Donna’s Hair Creations. The students could fix them up to what they looked like before. This way they would become tourist attractions.”

2nd place -- Kyra Creamer

“If we were able to get rid of abandoned, old houses and replace them with new homes and improved the surrounding land, this could definitely increase Dorchester’s population. … By expanding our community, our student population would grow, also, meaning new opportunities for the town and the school. … What students like me and others can do now to improve Dorchester is participating in community service. Simply helping out others can make a positive impact on the community as a whole.”

3rd place -- Ben Nohavec

“There are three things I hope to see in Dorchester in 12 years – a finished splash pad, more stores and shops, and paved streets. … To fill the commercial buildings on main street, it doesn’t have to be a grocery store necessarily. A new store could be a high-tech shop that allows kids to experiment with technology that they didn’t even realized existed. That would also bring more people to Dorchester.”

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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."