Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Alums, Job Openings, And Business News

Thursday, June 13, 2019

NEWS ROUND-UP: Alums, Job Openings, And Business News

DHS Alum Will Play Key Role with Architecture Firm: The Lincoln newspaper reports that DHS alumna Chandra Tuttle Wondercheck has been chosen to help lead HDR, a global architecture, engineering and consulting firm. Wondercheck will serve as the studio leader for the firm’s Lincoln architecture practice. Wondercheck boasts more than 15 years of experience providing project management, interior design, furniture and artwork selection services and expertise.

Lindsey Fritz Joining Donna's Hair Creations: We are told that Lindsey Fritz will be working at Dorchester's main street hair salon, Donna's Hair Creations, on Wednesdays. For appointments, call 402-946-2068.

Area Farmers Waaaaaay Behind on Planting: Extension educator Randy Pryor tells the Wilber paper that only about 50% of planting in the Saline County area has been completed. And it's the middle of June! Still, Pryor said "we’re in better shape than some areas in Nebraska and the Midwest." To have crops covered by insurance, farmers need to have them planted by tomorrow, June 14, or take a 1% penalty for each day thereafter.

Dorchester Flag Retirement Ceremony Moving to Wilber This Year: For years, the Dorchester American Legion hosted the annual Flag Day flag retirement ceremony. That event is headed to Wilber this year. Tomorrow, June 14, the Wilber American Legion Post 101 will hold its first flag retirement ceremony at 6 p.m. in Legion Park. “For the longest time, the Dorchester Legion Post has done this. We are taking this over from them,” said Dave Packer, who served as Post 101 Commander until June 12.

Job Openings at Farmers Cooperative: There are current openings at Farmers Cooperative and its Dorchester facility, as well as nearby communities. If interested, click here.

Former Dorchester Resident Shares Childhood Memories: The Times recently received the following e-mail from former Dorchester resident Maxine Ferris Vanek, who wanted to share some of her childhood memories from our community. Maxine wrote us the following:

I drove through Dorchester in March. It brought back a lot of memories. My family lived there back in the early '60s. We lived in four different houses, but my favorite one was the big house across from the park. I located one of the other houses we lived in, also. I'm sure the other two are now gone -- I wish I remembered the addresses, but since I was only in elementary school at the time, I was more concerned about playing.

I remember taking bike rides out of town with friends. We would bring a lunch with, sit under a bridge and eat. Kids nowadays don't get that chance to be free as birds and spread their wings.

My father (Melvern Ferris) was a cop -- not sure if he was one the whole time we lived there, though. Anyway, I remember one night in Dorchester when a blizzard struck, and this guy who drove a Mayflower semi stayed with us overnight. I remember that well because I had to give him my room, and I slept with my sister. ... My older sister Margaret graduated in Dorchester, I think it was 1965. We moved to Milford when I finished sixth grade.

Sometimes I wonder if we stayed, what my life would have been like. I lost my father in 1970, and he left behind two sons -- 2 and 4 years old. (He wanted boys, but had four girls before that -- so that left Mom by herself raising them.)...

I live out of state now. I’m in Minnesota, I came back to Dorchester for my sisters 60th birthday in Milford. It seems when you get older, you cherish your childhood more. I also remember that my one sister and I would walk across town to get some cream for Mom so we could make our favorite strawberry dessert. Thanks again.

Maxine Ferris Vanek

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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."