Dorchester Times: NEWS ROUND-UP: Village Water Restrictions Now in Effect

Sunday, May 12, 2024

NEWS ROUND-UP: Village Water Restrictions Now in Effect

Three 'Horns Headed to State Track Meet: DHS is sending three qualifiers to Omaha for the 2024 State Track and Field Championship. This comes after Bailey Theis placed first in shot put at last week's District D-1 meet in Pawnee City. Amber Kotas placed second in shot put, while Baylor Behrens placed second in the 300 meter hurdles. Impressive performance from these fine athletes.

Elementary Field Day Rescheduled: Due to rainy weather, the DPS Elementary Field Day scheduled for tomorrow, May 13, has been moved to the rain date, which is Tuesday, May 14. Tomorrow will be a regular school day, school officials say.

Village Water Restrictions Now in Effect: While the rain in our area has been plentiful this spring -- so far -- the water aquifers under our feet have a long way to go to refill after punishing drought over the last year and substantial water use for irrigated crops. Dorchester now has water restrictions in effect. Watering of lawns will be restricted. Odd numbered houses will be permitted to water on odd-numbered days; even-numbered homes will be allowed to water on even-numbered days. This will be enforced, we are told.

Dorchester Water Park Open for the Season: Dorchester's area-famous splash pad will be open May 13, weather permitting. Due to the water restriction we have for the town at this time, the daily splash pad hours will be 1-7 p.m. Memorial Weekend, the hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

School Out for the Summer on May 17: Dorchester Public School will conclude another school year this Friday, May 17. Students in kindergarten through 11th grade will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Exeter-Milligan and Friend to Consolidate: Exeter-Milligan and Friend Public Schools will consolidate for all activities and academic beginning in August 2025. Read the story.

Four-Way Race for County Commissioner: There are four candidates vying to fill the seat currently held by current County Commissioner Marvin Kohout. Keep in mind the yearly salary for this position is about $40,000 (50% of the county treasurer's pay, according to county minutes). The Crete News has published answers from all four candidates regarding an array of topics. We couldn't help but notice an odd answer from Ray Rohrig of Friend, who said he just recently changed his voter registration to Republican. He told the paper he forgot to switch back to the GOP after temporarily registering to be a Democrat in the late 1970s -- the 1970s! -- even though he "votes and thinks" like a Republican. Later, he lamented that if property taxes are reduced, "other means of revenue would need to be implemented so services today are here tomorrow." Another tax? What does Rohrig have in mind -- a county sales tax? Doesn't sound like a Republican.

1 comment:

AnonymousMay 17, 2024 at 11:59 AM
If the town is on water restrictions don't you think the splash pad is the last thing we should be wasting water on?? Especially when it is used by daycare centers from Lincoln .
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."