Mike Dvorak – Pride of Place
Editor’s Note: This continues a series of monthly articles celebrating pride in our town and its surroundings shown through the experience of residents.
By Jane Schuchardt
Special to The Elgin Review
His roughened hands speak volumes. Then you catch that broad smile along with the exclamation, “I was born with it, working with my hands.” That’s Elgin’s John Michael Dvorak talking, more commonly known as Mike.
Growing up on a ranch south of Atkinson, one of 10 children, Mike has spent a lifetime in one shop or another since he was two years old (according to his mother). Now, at age 71, he reported with a grin, “Connie (his wife of 43 years) knows where I’m at most of the time.”
Surrounded by woodworking equipment, wood of every type and size, and plenty of sawdust, Dvorak said he can spend all day in the shop. His latest passion is craft items, especially crosses with a barbed wire circle in the center, bowls, porch lanterns, and an occasional end table.
One table was in the works for the Dvorak’s nearby home, already beautifully appointed with Mike’s handiwork. Interestingly, much of his craft wood comes from old pianos, especially poplar, and some Douglas fir and birch.
He sells his wares at about four shows a year and takes orders for craft items and small cabinetry and furniture projects such as TV stands, nesting tables, and nightstands.
For the last couple years, he’s made about 40 bowls annually, including popular knitting bowls with a “J’ cut on the side for feeding yarn. “Now I’m concentrating on the crosses,” Dvorak said proudly. “I can’t keep up with the demand.”
Dvorak went to trade school in Omaha to be a mechanic though is quick to share “I never spent a day of my life” doing that. Instead, largely out of his self-reported ‘love for wood,’ he worked various construction jobs before starting up Dvorak Construction in 1985.
Moving to Elgin in 1981, Dvorak summarized, “We were just going to live here until we figured out where we were going. Then, all of sudden, employment, church, school. Five kids kind of make you grow roots, and we were drawn to this community because of the people.”
The healthy row of tall, magnificent evergreens south of the house tell another Dvorak love story with wood. “Connie (a Nebraska Extension Master Gardener) and I like to grow stuff,” Dvorak said. Que up another Dvorak business, Arbor View Farm, inspired by Connie’s brother-in-law who has a large commercial nursery near Omaha. “We had the space, so we started growing trees for him to sell,” Dvorak said.
Now with many trees a bit too large to move, the Dvoraks enjoy them out of the south windows of their Elgin home. Their sights are now focused on growing woody florals such as curly willow and cardinal red osier dogwood, popular in winter arrangements.
Though not used often now, Dvorak is obviously quite attached to his tree transplanting truck, fondly called ‘Old Yeller,’ that he bought about five years ago.
The workhorse machine ladened with multiple controls has massive blades that push deep into the ground creating a cone-shaped hole. The same blades surround the tree to be moved, dig it up, then the truck scoots to the new tree location, the tree is gently lowered into its new home, and straightened to perfection.
Dvorak figures ‘Old Yeller,’ named for its weathered yellow paint, has moved more than 10,000 trees in its day, about 800 under his watch.
When Dvorak isn’t in his shop or digging with Connie in the dirt, he’s serving Elgin on the City Council, a job he’s had for five years. He’s up for re-election in 2022 when he wraps up his second four-year term. “I’m committed to helping our community be the best it can be,” Dvorak said.
A quick call to City Hall clarified his many responsibilities – council representative to the Pool and Park Committee with Duane Miller, Water and Sewer Committee with Craig Niewohner, and Ordinance Committee with Jim Kittelson. He was re-elected Council President for 2022 and is part of the Water Conservation Committee and Board of Health.
Dvorak is a member of St. Boniface Catholic Church where he helped repair the third floor of the grade school back in the day and now takes care of new trees at Pope John Catholic High School. He also used to be active with the Ball Diamond Association when their children, two girls and three boys, were growing up. The Dvoraks have nine grandchildren ages 1-13.
About his spare time, Dvorak said he really doesn’t have any except “I’d like to learn how to fish again. Connie and I did buy a boat and hope to get it out in spring.”
Asking the standard question for these articles, “Why live here?,” Connie chimed in from the back room, “When he gets into the city, he can hardly wait to get back to Elgin.” Dvorak added, “It’s just the people, the lack of drama, Elgin is our home.”
Thank you Mike, and Connie, too, for having a steady, strong hand in making Elgin a great place to live.
