Patricia “Pat” Prchal, age 90, of Norwood Young America, passed away Saturday August 7, 2021 at The Haven in Norwood Young America.
Mass of Christian Burial 11:00 AM Monday August 16, 2021 at Church Of The Ascension (323 N. Reform St.) in Norwood Young America with Fr. Abraham George as Celebrant of the Mass.   Visitation 4-7:00 PM Sunday August 15, 2021 at the Johnson Funeral Home (141 E. First St.) in Waconia and Monday one hour prior to the Mass at the church.  There will be a Rosary Service at 3:30 PM Sunday evening at the funeral home.  Interment in the church cemetery.

Gary Michael “Hammer” Flicek, 69, of Montgomery passed away peacefully at his home after an eleven-year battle against cancer, surrounded by family and friends on August 4, 2021.
Funeral services and visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 18th, 2021, at Most Holy Redeemer Church in Montgomery, MN. Visitation will be held from 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m with mass to follow. Burial will be at a later date. Luncheon will be held at the American Legion in Montgomery. Officiating will be Father Thomas Neihaus.

Effective Monday, August 9, 2021, all Rice County employees and visitors are required to wear a face covering in Rice County government buildings. This requirement is going into effect to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Rice County is currently classified as “high” community transmission of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker. The CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health recommend face coverings be worn in indoor, public settings by all individuals -- vaccinated or not -- when in a community with high transmission.

According to the Czech Center, kroj (plural: kroje) designs and colors vary widely across the Czech regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, with each having its own distinguishing characteristics.
They vary around the Montgomery area too, according to artists who colored their interpretations of the Czech and Slovak traditional costume in the Montgomery Messenger’s “Color the Kroj Contest.”

An honor guard leads the procession out of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague on Sunday, Aug. 1, for the funeral of Montgomery Police Officer Bryan Tupy. Officers and members of area police departments, sheriff’s offices, the State Patrol, the Montgomery Ambulance Service and Fire Department participated in the honor guard during the funeral. For more see upcoming print issues of the Montgomery Messenger and The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

It seems like this year’s Kolacky Days was two years in the making. After last year, it was nice to see people getting together and coming to our town for our fantastic festival.
Yes, it was hot, but not oppressively so. I applaud the Montgomery Area Community Club (MACC) and its list of volunteers for putting on another great multi-day event. A festival like ours does not happen over night, nor, does it happen from the work of one person. In my opinion, they did a great job throughout the year, not knowing exactly what kind of festival they would eventually be able to put on.

Le Sueur County District Court has ordered the abandoned and dilapidated property at 100 First Street South to be razed.
The court ruled in favor of the City of Montgomery on July 16. Judge Patrick Goggins is ordering Taraba to vacate and remove all personal possessions from the property by Friday, July 30, 2021.
Taraba is also ordered, by the same date, to raze the building, remove all building debris from the site, dispose of it in a legally appropriate manner, and bring the basement back to grade.

The three key missions of the Tri-City United Public Schools are to empower learners, create opportunities, and be united for success.
District Superintendent Lonnie Seifert reiterated that point at a work session held by the TCU school board on July 26 as he addressed the discussion topic of Critical Race Theory.
“All means all,” Seifert said. “Equal opportunities for all students. That’s really what it should be, and that’s what we have been pushing.”

The Postal Service is good to go on its plan to slow down the mail and implement aggressive price increases, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission in a pair of decisions handed down this week.
The PRC expressed skepticism about the wisdom of adding an additional day to service standards for both First-Class and Periodicals mail.
But it stopped short of telling USPS not to make the change. Instead, it cautioned USPS to examine its assumptions about cost savings and to look into the root causes of mail slowdowns in recent months.

Kristen Munden was offered, and accepted, the Head Boys Swim & Dive Coach position at New Prague High School, pending approval by the New Prague School Board.
The 2021-22 winter sport season will be the first year that Boys Swim & Dive is offered at New Prague High School.
Kristen started her swimming career on the YMCA swim team in Rochester from age 8-18. She continued swimming for Rochester Mayo High School from 7th - 12th grade.
After her personal career ended, she transitioned into coaching the sport she loves, swimming.

Seven businesses participated in this year’s Christmas-themed Kolacky Days Window Display Contest.
Moonshot on Main’s window display at The Rustic Farmer, which is located at 209 1st St. S., earned the most points—an impressive 525 points. Judges could award each entry up to 40 points for theme, 40 points for design, and 20 points for signs/explanatory materials.

With one week to play, the final games of the DRS Amateur Baseball League schedule will be very important for playoff seeding.
St. Patrick (17-4 record) has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Region 3C Tournament, which will begin Sunday, August 8. Union Hill (14-7) and Faribault (12-8) have clinched league playoff byes. There are five byes available and five teams will be battling this week for those spots.
Montgomery (11-8), New Prague (11-9), St. Benedict (10-12), Lonsdale (9-11), and Prior Lake (9-11) are all in contention for the final two first round playoff byes.

Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.

Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.

Marvin Jakes Sr., 85, of Montgomery, passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021, at the Family Residence in Northfield. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 4 from 3 to 4 p.m. with funeral service following at 4 p.m., all held at St. John Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Interment will be at Bohemian National Cemetery at a later date.
Marvin was born on August 24, 1935, to Adeline (Kuzel) and James Jakes at their family farm in Montgomery. He graduated from Montgomery High School, and was a farmer for 50+ years. Marvin was united in marriage to Irene Spoor, and later divorced.

Bryan Charles Tupy, age 31, of Jordan, died suddenly at his home on Monday, July 26, 2021.  Bryan was born on January 25, 1990 to Chuck and Shelly (Walerius) Tupy.  He attended St. Wenceslaus School, graduated from New Prague High School, attained a B.S. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of North Dakota, and then got his associate degree in Law Enforcement from Alexandria Technical and Community College.  He married the love of his life, Annalee Koonst at St.