Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUNDUP: Free Youth Basketball Camp, June 28-29

Saturday, June 11, 2022

NEWS ROUNDUP: Free Youth Basketball Camp, June 28-29

Dorchester Youth Basketball Camp is June 28-29: Kids, get ready to work on your b-ball skills! On June 28 and 29, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. both days, Dorchester Public Schools is hosting a youth basketball camp for all kids going into grades 1 through 8. There's no need to sign up -- and the camp will be free. Just show up the day of the camps and be ready to learn from the high school coaches and athletes. If you have any questions, you can contact Coach Brandon Bruha at brandon.bruha@dorchesterschool.org.

Multiple Forms Available on Village's Website: Want to start making you Dorchester utilities payment by having it automatically deducted from your checking or savings account? You can do it with this form. Need a hobbyist permit so you can keep your immobilized vehicle parked in town for up to 90 days? Use this form. Several forms for multiple activities -- from starting utility service to getting a zoning permit -- are available on the Village of Dorchester's site under "forms" at the menu atop the homepage.

Young Dorchester Angler Wins Prizes: A young Dorchester angler took two top prizes from the Lower Big Blue Natural Resources District and Swan 5 Advisory Council's 20th annual free family fishing day and youth fishing and casting derby, held late last month at the Willard L. Meyer Recreation Area near Tobias. In the ages 13-18 category, Keith Kemmerling reeled in the most fish, and he also won the casting contest. Impressive work, Keith!

Mackenzie Luzum Takes Top Honor in Nebraska Art Contest: In the world of art, Mackenzie Luzum received third place in a statewide contest of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. She used prisma colors to create the image of a large-mouth bass on matte board. Check out Mackenzie's creation.

DHS Alum Makes Midland Dean's List: Abigail Zoubek, a 2021 DHS graduate, has made the dean's list at Midland University. She recently completed her freshman year, majoring in exercise science.

Time to Register for July 4 Stampede: On Monday, July 4, as part of the village's Independence Day celebration, Dorchester will host the annual Longhorn Stampede. Participants can choose from a 1-mile, 2-mile, or 5K fun run/walk. The event will start at 7:30 a.m. Register by June 15 to receive a T-shirt or tank top.

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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."