First Killing Frost Comes Over Next 48 Hours

Brrrrrr.

The first killing frost arrives over the next 48 hours, right around the average timeline for our neck of the woods.

According to AccuWeather, temps are expected to dip to 28 degrees overnight into Tuesday morning. 

Meanwhile, a freeze watch is in effect for parts of central and eastern Nebraska late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Low temperatures could fall to the mid 20s.

Keep this in mind: These freezing temps are the coldest we will see over the next 10 days. 

In fact, freezing temperatures aren't expected to reappear in the Dorchester area until mid-November, according to forecasts.

As a point of reference, the average first frost date for our area is Oct. 12.

Developing...

NEWS ROUND-UP: Dorchester's Autumn Street Paving Projects

Dorchester's Autumn Street Paving Projects: Dorchester continues to add more concrete streets, as crews work to pave sections of Franklin Ave. and 8th Street that border the city park. Approved the the village board, the project will ensure paved streets surround the park, with the exception of the alley to the east. Meanwhile, Dorchester's main street, Washington Ave., is being resurfaced for the first time in more than 30 years. According to our records, the street was last resurfaced in the fall of 1991, or 33 years ago. In recent years, the street had become quite rough due to holes and cracks in the surface, especially as more semi-truck and trailer traffic utilizes the roadway.

Community Fall Clean-Up Begins Saturday: Dorchester's Community Fall Clean-Up will be from Saturday, Oct. 12 through Monday, Oct. 19. The dump site will be open Monday thru Friday 3-7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

DHS Football Scores First Victory of 2024: The Dorchester football team picked up its first win of the 2024 campaign on Sept. 27, beating Harvard 58-12. The Longhorns, now 1-4, on the season, will take on Diller-Odell (4-1) this Friday, Oct. 11, in a contest at Nerud Field.

DHS Volleyball Team Hits Rough Patch: This blog may have jinxed the DHS volleyball team when we wrote on Sept. 24 that the Orange and Black Attack deserved to be in the Class D-2 top ten. Since defeating No. 8 Osceola, Dorchester has dropped five of its last nine contests. The Lady Longhorns now stand at 14-7 on the season. Next up for DHS is Cross County (13-11) in a Thursday road game (Oct. 10) and a home contest against Lincoln Parkview Christian ( 0-18) on Monday, Oct. 14.     

Missing Lincoln Woman Found in Dorchester: A woman who went missing from her home in southwest Lincoln was found in Dorchester, according to media reports. Charlotte Starkey, 75, had been missing since Sunday, according to the Lincoln Police Department. Police said her husband returned to their house near 16th and Burnham streets at about 2:30 p.m. and couldn’t find her. Around 6 a.m. Tuesday, LPD said Starkey was found “safe, healthy, and in good spirits.”

EPA Offers Recreation Grants: The U.S. EPA's Recreation Economy for Rural Communities program is accepting applications through Oct. 16. The program provides planning assistance to small towns and rural communities to help them boost their outdoor recreation economy and revitalize their main streets. Past projects have included promoting outdoor-oriented businesses and supporting economic growth and amenities in downtowns. Learn more.

Dorchester's Spookiest Places

Halloween season is fast approaching.

Back in 2007, the Times started publishing reports on the Dorchester area's haunted places. Here's an update on the latest reports regarding our area's spooky spots.

Gilbert's Graveyard: The most famous of Dorchester's "haunted places," Gilbert's Cemetery -- the final resting place of the family of John W. Gilbert -- continues to draw attention from inside and outside Saline County. (There's even this video of some brave souls who went into the graveyard at night for electronic readings.) Click here to see some of the stories left about Gilbert's Cemetery on a site called "Haunted Places."  Another report on the pioneer cemetery came from a website called  "Hauntings" (no longer active), which featured a "pre-haunt interview with the locals" in Dorchester. The site recounts some of the history behind Gilbert's Graveyard and its namesake, using historical accounts published by this blog and the 1981 Dorchester Centennial book. As Hauntings reported, "a number of strange events have been reported here. Among them, strange noises and the movement of tombstones. ... Sadly, this location has been host to vandalism and disrespect for some of the area's earliest pioneers. If you plan to visit this location, think on how you would want your remains and the stone markers of your final resting place treated."

The website also featured firsthand accounts from those who have visited the cemetery. One visitor named Chris wrote the following: 

"The first trip we had made (to Gilbert's Graveyard) I ended up in tears; just the feeling of being there was enough to make you sick. We started to drive through the graveyard, and someone pointed at a tree that was knocked down over a grave, and when I looked over there I saw a black fog coming up from the grave, we decided to leave. As we left the graveyard, we looked over to the graveyard and about nine-plus flashing lights came up from the graveyard and seemed to follow us. I was the driver and I looked in my rear view mirror to be horrified to see a older lady staring at me in the mirror, then scream and then I began to cry uncontrollably. I stepped on that gas and swore I would never return. But consequently we did, and the second time it was more calmer then the first, not much happened except for hearing footsteps in the distant, and the feeling of you being followed closely."

Former 'Squeaky Bridge': According to GhostsOfAmerica.com, the site of the former ''squeaky bridge'' over Turkey Creek, south of Dorchester, is "extremely haunted" (County Rd. 1500 between county roads G and H). "According to legend several men were hanged on the bridge, which was closed and removed in or around 1994. However the ghosts still appear on a routine basis at night. They are transparent figures hanging by a noose right where the bridge once stood. Some have said the hanged men will occasionally look up and stare at observers."

Specter of Highway 33: For years, we've heard reports of a "man" who supposedly walks on Highway 33 as you near the west edge of Crete. People have reported seeing him on the road, or just off to the side, and swerve to miss him.  When they look back, he is gone. The Times has investigated the story further. Some say the apparition is that of a Dorchester lad who died decades ago in a very bad accident a mile west of Crete. Others say it is the ghost of an Oregon Trail pioneer who lost his way and died on the journey.  

Second Floor Above the Village Office:  According to GhostsOfAmerica.com, "there have been many reports of figures or shapes moving around in the second floor of the village office building" on main street Dorchester. The website claims to have a picture of the ghostly figure taken with a cell phone in 2009.

Dorchester School Boiler Room: We can confirm that the boiler room of the 1927 Dorchester School building is no longer haunted, if it ever was. The old school building was torn down in 2008 to make room for the current DPS campus. But when it existed, there were reports that in the late 1920s a child "locked himself in the boiler room and died." According to the old stories, school janitors in the modern era sometimes heard yells coming from the boiler room during the night -- and "when they went down into the boiler room, they didn't find anyone." So convincing were the reports that the Lincoln Journal Star in 2006 wrote a story on the the old boiler room.  The story quotes former school secretary Joyce Karl and former custodians Ron Sehnert and Sharri Kasl, who said: "I never go down there in the mornings if I’m ever here by myself." Another publication ranked the Dorchester boiler room the second-most haunted site in Nebraska.

Doane College Library: Doane College's old library seems to be haunted by a woman in a white dress, according to some reports. On a full moon, she will appear in front of one of the windows. She has been reported to roam about the basement as well.

Looking Back: Dorchester's Elmwood Pony Farm (And Rodeo)

Today we look back at one of the most intriguing pieces of Dorchester's past: the Thompson Elmwood Pony Farm. (Click on the accompanying pictures for a closer look.)

Owned and operated by Colonel W.J. Thompson, the Elmwood Pony Farm was located in the northeast corner of Dorchester. The farm sat on present day 10th Street, between Lincoln and Fulton Avenues -- home of the present-day "The Well" spa and health business.

Dating back to the 1890s, the Elmwood Pony Farm was one of the largest pony farms west of the Mississippi River. By the 1920s, the pony farm had become home to more than 300 ponies.  

Thompson's pony farm was a popular destination for children from miles around, according to accounts of longtime residents. Children who lived in the country were even permitted to take home a pony and ride it all summer, if they agreed to keep it fed well.

Each September, Colonel Thompson took as many as 35 Shetland ponies to the Nebraska State Fair for rides. He entered many more of the animals in the fair's show contests. All of the ponies were herded overland from Dorchester to Lincoln by Thompson farm employees.

In 1930, Colonel Thompson's son, Wallace, started the Thompson Rodeo. It was usually a three-day event held each fall, complete with fighting broncos, cowboys, clowns, trick riders, cowgirls, bull dodgers, concessions, rides, dancing and "whoopee." 

Dorchester's Thomspon rodeo attracted many top riders from around the country, as well as local talent.  An Oklahoma rider even came within 0.7 seconds of the world's record in calf roping at the Dorchester Rodeo.

At one time, more than 7,000 spectators were reported in attendance at the Dorchester Rodeo. 

Many people had high hopes that Dorchester would become a permanent rodeo on the famous circuit that included Cheyenne Frontier Days, as well as the Burwell and Sidney rodeos. 

But by 1940, the rodeo hit a spell of heavy rain and events were cancelled.

Then came World War II, and in 1942 the Thompson Rodeo closed its doors permanently, becoming another chapter in the history book of our community.