The Dorchester Reporter has maintained a presence on the internet for more than six years now and it is interesting to note the growth readership in recent months.

The site, dotnews.com, has become a hometown destination for all sorts of people, here in the community and well beyond. Here are some statistics:

• Last year in 2004, our website recorded 335,383 unique "sessions," an 18 percent growth over 2003.

• On average, Dotnews is viewed by almost 1000 persons each and every day, up from 778 daily the year before.

•For the year, there were some 2,722,643 "hits" at dotnews.com, and our server sent 32,823,924 kilobytes of information from and about Dorchester.

The website has a "worldwide" reach; we have heard from Dot students away at college, retirees in Florida reaching out for old friends and neighbors, and a Cedar Grove woman who stays in touch from Singapore, where she and her husband located when their jobs took them to that part of the world.

And the numbers continue to grow: Just last week, the website showed a record number of "hits": on Jan 13, there were 5686 page views, 1803 sessions and a total of 19,090 hits.

Our editors prepare a weekly summary of news, emailing it in digest form to some 1500 readers, many of them local residents who read online at their offices. Subscriptions are free, and a simple request sent to news@dotnews.com begins the service.

Underneath the statistics lies the simple fact that a true online community of Dorchester people has developed at the website, and a message board there affords a unique way for Dorchester people, old and new, to stay in touch.

Here are a few recent postings from the online community at dotnews.com:

• I was just wondering if anyone out there knew my father. His name is Butch Cummings. He passed away about 9 years ago from cancer. He hung around Fields Corner in Mickey's place. Worked at Dot Tire for years, also City of Boston. Belonged to The Red Raiders. Any stories people have would be great. I was just thinking about him and all the stories people use to tell me about him when I was a kid.(he always said they are all lies except the good ones) Thanks!!! - Bill Cummings (billboo65@yahoo.com) , Dorchester

• Just a sad note to pass along,my father, Arthur Peters, or "Pete,Peter,Pistol Pete" as he was also known passed away Friday evening, Jan. 7 in his home in Hyannis after a long, painful bout with liver cancer and other ailments. Husband of Joan, father of Scotty, Michael, Gail and myself-Gary. He was a longtime bartender at Walsh's Tavern on Columbia Rd., Shirley Cafe off East Cottage St., LaSalles on Dudley St. to name just a few.... Hopefully this message will reach many people who knew and loved him. Gary Peters gfp67@yahoo.com, Framingham, MA

• I love this paper, I am in a newspaper and I thank you for all the help you have given me without knowing - Angella dotbug2015@yahoo.com, Dorchester

• Originally from Fields Corner, class of 1965. Hi to all the old "Junior Sabres" out there. - Maureen (Swanson) Sullivan , Mls51347@aol.com , Brockton, Ma.

• Left Neponset with my husband as he was in the service. Traveled everywhere. ended up in Oak harbor Wa. went to St. Ann's and Dorchester High for girls. I am now old 74 but still miss my east coast. I left there in 1960, been back once. Lived in Saudia Arabia for 5 years. I lived in Plain st. I am couusins to the Nashes. Would love to hear from any of my classmates, 1943 from St. Ann's - Mary Murray (Smith) Gingiesmith@aol.com, Oak Harbor, WA

• Al played softball on the Dorchester Sunday softball league from inception until 1995, then we move to Florida. Do miss the Victoria Diner and fund Sundays at the softball fields. - Al and Kathy Black, kblack8466@aol.com, Clermont FL

•Thank you for reporting the Thomas Cook tragedy. This report should be continued after the investigation by EMS and given notice to the public. EMS should dispatch the Fire Department on all calls. It just seems to make sense to send Fire and EMS together. You can always return one.- Frank Kodzis FKodzis@juno.com, Dorchester

• I grew up in Dorchester in the mid '40s. Attendend Robert Swan School. I am now a tour guide at a chocolate factory in Daytona Beach. I seem to be mentioning Dorchester quite often as I tell folks where the first chocolate factory was in the U.S., of course, it was in Dorchester. Wondered if anyone from my early years was still around? I remember Stephen Davidson, Walter Phinney, Elaine Rooney, Lorna Barrett. All from the Norfolk St. area. - mawddy@netzero.net Daytona Beach, FL

• Hi. I was born in 1957 and lived on Woodrow Ave behind Roco's drug store around '62 we then moved over to Southern Ave. We lived at the corner of Southern Ave. and New England Ave. until 1966. I also went to John Greenleaf Whitier school 1st and 2nd grade. Lots of great memories from the short time I lived there - FrankR001@aol.com, Norton, Mass

• I am looking to get in touch with a girl I grew up with. We both lived on Dix Street. I moved in 1979. Her name was Donna Lee, I believe she married a man with the last name Shea, please if anyone can help me email me.- Jean, dgj@ns.sympatico.ca .Nova Scotia