Every motorist driving in and out of Lonsdale’s east side gets a wave.
The unofficial greeter is John Carson. He loves waving to everybody and hopes it makes their day.
It makes him "happy," he said.
John, who turned 19 in April and graduated in May from Tri-City United High School, has been waving to passersby for a few years now. His mom, Roz Carson, can't pinpoint why he started greeting motorists, but believe it started at school under the guidance of one special teacher.

Katherine Ann Sevcik, age 67, of Shorewood, MN, died peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Thursday, August 8, 2019 at NC Little Hospice Home in Edina, MN.
Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2019, 11:00 AM at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 4537 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN.  The family will receive friends starting at 9:30 AM. Inturnment will be at 4:30 PM that aftternoon at Calvary Cemetery in Lonsdale, MN.

Brackets were released Sunday evening for the State Class C Baseball Baseball Tournament, which begins Friday, Aug. 16, at Maple Lake and Delano.
Three of the four Dakota-Rice-Scott/Region 3C qualifiers, St. Patrick, St. Benedict and Prior Lake, will be in action this weekend with the fourth, New Market, getting a bye into the second round.
St. Patrick will open the tournament in Delano on Friday. The No. 2 seed from Region 3C will face Cold Spring, the fourth seed from Region 11C, at 7:30 p.m.

Lonsdale Community Days Grand Marshals Charlotte, left, and Joe Kodada, life-long residents of the town wave to the crowd at the beginning of the Grand Parade on Saturday, Aug. 10. The rain quit just in time for the parade, which had 55 units registered. The Grand Parade made its way down Main Street featuring an array of groups from Lonsdale and surrounding communities. Rain didn't keep people away from the annual festival, which continues through the day with a Car Cruise, Steele Domain Wrestling and an evening performance by Chris Hawkey.

After a ceremony flag raising, Le Sueur County Sheriff Brett Mason welcomes people to the new Le Sueur County Justice Center in Le Center. A large crowd showed up for tours of the new facility, which will house the Sheriff's Office, county jail, courtrooms and court administration and Emergency Operations. Read more in an upcoming edition.

Riley Ahern pitched six shutout innings and Andy Henkemeyer had an RBI double int he first inning to lead New Market to a 3-1 win over St. Patrick to claim the Region 3C Championship Friday in Veseli. Phillip Garcia was the losing pitcher, but allowed only three hits and two runs in his stint. St. Patrick's lone run came on a solo home run by Seth Ambroz in the eighth inning. New Market, as region champion, draws a first round bye in the State Class C Tournament. St. Patrick, St.

The float with the Lonsdale ambassadors will have some new faces when it rolls through the Lonsdale Community Days Grand Parade on Sunday, Aug. 10. A new Miss Lonsdale and court were crowned at the Ambassadors ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 3.

Hot Diggity Dog!
The Knights of Columbus debuted a new, larger hot dog stand last week.
Instead of the familiar seven-foot-by-seven-foot metal stand, residents ordered their brat or hot dog from a new larger building. According to “manager” Ernie Kotek, the solid eight-foot-by-ten-foot space gives volunteers more comfortable room to work.

New Market, St. Patrick, St. Benedict and Prior Lake have qualified for the State Class C Amateur Baseball Tournament, which begins Friday, Aug. 16, in Delano, Maple Lake and Dassel.
New Market was the first team to earn its spot in the tourney with a 17-0 win over Faribault Tuesday, July 30. The next night, St. Patrick defeated Prior Lake 8-2. St. Benedict and Prior Lake qualified with wins on Friday in the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

The American Legion, both nationally and in Montgomery, was chartered in 1919.
The organization started out as a group “of war weary veterans,” according to the Legion’s online history page, www.legion.org/history, so it makes sense that many of the group’s first items of business was to line up dances—happy occasions for themselves and the community.
This Saturday, the Montgomery American Legion will be celebrating its 100 years in the same manner—a party, complete with a dance. And, everyone is invited.

The annual Kilkenny Fire Department ATV Ride will be held Saturday, August 10.
This is the fourth year the Kilkenny Fire Department has been in charge of the event. The ATV Run was started by the Kilkenny Park Committee approximately eight years ago.
Last year more than 320 machines and more than 500 people participated.
Registration begins at 10 a.m. at Little Irishman Park, which is located behind St. Canice Catholic Church.
The ride starts at 12:30 p.m. and the route features a 30-mile scenic ditch ride.

Long-time Le Sueur County Veteran Service Director Jim Golgart informed the Le Sueur County Board his plans to retire.
Golgart, who started with the county in 2000, plans to retire as of June 5, 2020.
“After careful thought and consideration I have decided to retire from my position of the Director of Veteran Services for Le Sueur County,” Golgart said to the board from a written statement.

National Night Out holds events that help communities and police come together, get to know each other and improve trust to make cities across the nation safer and more comfortable. Montgomery participated on Tuesday, Aug. 6 with a large, festive and fun event at Memorial Park. Police Chief Nathan Hintz, just a few months on the job as chief, spent the time mingling and talking with more than 250 people who attended.

St. Benedict and New Market won their Region 3C playoff games Sunday, Aug. 4. St. Benedict’s win means Prior Lake will be the No. 4 seed from the region at the State Class C Baseball Tournament. St. Benedict will host St. Patrick on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at a site to be announced, in a loser’s bracket game, with the loser becoming the No. 3 seed.
Saints 17, Mudcats 4

The Prior Lake Mudcats and St. Benedict Saints earned the final two berths into the state tournament from Region 3C with wins on Friday evening.
Prior Lake’s Ben Morrison struck out nine and allowed just four hits in a 7-0 shutout over Lonsdale. Luke Weber, Cole Bjorge and Jake Lehrer each had two this for the Mudcats. Tyler Milford started for Lonsdale and took the loss.

Paul H. “Mike” Freid, age 82, of Faribault, MN, passed away Thursday, August 1, 2019 at the Emeralds of Faribault Care Center.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. at the Divine Mercy Catholic Church, 139 Mercy Drive in Faribault with Fr. Joseph Forcelle officiating. Interment will be held at St. Lawrence Cemetery in Faribault with military honors provided by the Rice County Central Veterans Organization.