Lukas Janicek was a dinner guest of the New Prague Czech Heritage Club on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Lukas is an exchange student from his hometown of Rokycany, Czech Republic, and is a student at New Prague High School. His host parents are Jessica and Jeremy Dohm.
The dinner took place at the Fishtale Grill in New Prague, where all feasted on pork, dumplings, and kraut with vomacka. Lukas said the food was very good and very similar to the foods he enjoys in his Czech home. He commented that the word “vomacka” doesn’t mean “soup” but rather means “gravy” or “sauce”.

The City of New Prague has determined that the main store front of Downtown Sound, located at 104 E. Main Street is no longer unoccupiable based on a recent structural review relating to the building at 102 E. Main Street. Additionally the sidewalk will be open to Downtown Sound at 104 E. Main Street. The rear portion of Downtown Sound also remains open as it previously has been.

The Hwy 19/Main Street construction crew will be adding two temporary bridges for pedestrian traffic to cross Main Street over the weekend! You can find the crossings at Central Ave (by the Chamber office) and near City Club Bar

NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has set up a wide variety of free online mental health classes for May and June. They include such classes as Hope for Recovery, Transitions, Ending the Silence, Understanding Early Episode Psychosis for Families, In Our Own Voice, Family to Family, Positive Psychology, Creating Caring Communities, a suicide prevention class called QPR – Question, Persuade and Refer, a special QPR class for Agricultural Communities and many more.

The Lonsdale Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Street Fair and Business Expo on Thursday evening, May 20 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.
The family friendly event will be located on Ash Street NE near Mackenthun’s Fine Foods.
Lonsdale area businesses will be showcased. There will also be food vendors, a beer garden, inflatables, music, and more.

A free food distribution for those in need of food or newly struggling to make ends meet due to the COVID-19 crisis is being held Tuesday, May 18 from 2 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the Le Sueur County Fairgrounds, 320 South Plut Ave, Le Center. The event is being hosted by Le Sueur County and Second Harvest Heartland with food provided from the COVID Food Assistance Program (CFAP).

The Czech Heritage Club announced Friday that it was recently awarded a monetary gift (grant) from the Government of the Czech Republic for 2021.
The grant was 25,000 Czech koruna or Czech crown (Kč/CZK), which converts to $1,114.67 US dollars.  According to Czech Heritage member, Jean Keogh, the funds will be used for the Club’s monthly cultural and historic programming, and printing updated cemetery books listing Czech immigrants and their decedents in the two New Prague cemeteries.

Columbus Avenue NE/SE at the intersection with Main Street in New Prague is scheduled to close before 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 12, due to the reconstruction of Main Street. Crews will reconstruct the street and replacing the infrastructure as the street work continues east. First Avenue NE/SE will reopen with a temporary gravel surface as an alternative north to south crossing of Main Street. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

New Prague Police Chief Jim Gareis laid out a strategic transition plan for the city’s Police Department, which includes his eventual retirement in 2022, during the New Prague City Council’s electronically held meeting on Monday, May 3.

This weekend New Prague High School students will be performing “Camp Rock, the Musical” for its spring production. The musical, based on the Disney Channel production, will be shown on Trojan Theatre YouTube at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 9. The link to the YouTube channel is: http://bitly.com/trojan-theatre.

She’s a Topiary Designer/Botanical Mosaic Artist, originally from Montgomery. She was the 2001 Kolacky Queen, and next week she will show the world her artistic skills on the new discovery+ show, “Clipped.”
Meghan Petricka, a 2002 Montgomery- Lonsdale High School graduate, joins six other artists in the competition series set in the topiary world. According to a press release, they create, “breathtaking sculptures out of meticulously trimmed shrubbery, plants and flowers - designing colorful, largerthan- life, living works of art.”

Raven Stream Elementary School students participate in a hopping exercise on Wednesday, May 5, as part of ACES (All Children Exercise Simultaneously). The New Prague school was taking part in the annual event where children exercise at the same time. The 558 students at the school had several exercises to do at various stations around the school. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

An extensive search for a new Le Sueur County Administrator is coming to a close.
After final interviews with four candidates Monday, May 3, the Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners extended the job offer to Joseph Martin during the Tuesday, May 4 board meeting.
Martin, lives in rural Waterville with his wife, Staci (Bohlen), and their two children. He is the son-in-law of Curtis and Joyce Bohlen of rural Kilkenny.

Beginning on Saturday, May 1, and lasting an entire week to Saturday, May 8, people can participate in the Virtual Run New Prague. This is the second year the Half Marathon, 10K and 5K runs and the Kids Fun Run are being held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also the second year people can run the Half Marathon as a relay.
The New Prague Chamber of Commerce organizes Run New Prague. It posted on its website that...
To read more on this article, pick up the April 29, 2021 print edition of The New Prague Times.

After missing out on last year, buyers and sellers were ready to wheel and deal at what has become the seasonal kick-off location to the swap meet season in the Midwest.
From Friday to Sunday, approximately 700 vendors gathered to sell their wares at the 44th Annual Le Sueur Pioneer Power Swap Meet.
“Everybody was happy to be out and among...
To see more on this article, pick up the April 29, 2021 print edition of the Montgomery Messenger, The New Prague Times or the LifeEnterprise papers.

Motorists on Highway 21 in Rice County at Shieldsville are encountering lane closures that began April 19 as crews start resurfacing, making intersection improvements and repairing culverts, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Work includes resurfacing approximately eight miles of Hwy. 21 from about one mile west of Interstate 35 to Highway 99. New turn lanes/bypass lanes will be installed at Shields Court, Mazaska Lake Trail, Lake Mazaska Boat Launch and French Lake Trail.