Lifetime achievement

Longtime Princeton community leader and theater entertainer Dick Dorsch will be the guest of honor at the 17th annual Prairie Arts Council Gala, set for 7 p.m. Friday at the Princeton Elks Lodge. Dorsch will be recognized with a “Lifetime Achievements in the Arts” Award.

Dorsch has performed in more than 25 local productions with Stage 212 in Peru, River Valley Players in Henry, Act IV, Prairie Arts Center and Homestead Festival. He has also portrayed former prominent citizens in the Bureau County Historical Society’s “Oakland Speaks” tours. As a community leader and a retired Princeton dentist, Dorsch has served as president of the Princeton Chamber of Commerce, the Princeton Rotary Club and the Bureau County Chorus. He’s also active in the First Lutheran Church in Princeton. Dorsch is the third “Lifetime Achievement in the Arts” recipient honored by the Prairie Arts Council.

Nedda Simon was the second recipient of this special award at last year’s gala, and Mary Win Norris was the first recipient in 2010.