In preparation for Thanksgiving, the Le Sueur County Veterans Office is providing $25 gift vouchers during the month of November to veterans. The office is partnering with O’Keefe’s Meat Market in Le Center to provide the gift vouchers, according to a press release from the Le Sue County Veterans Office.

Area veterans can stop by the Le Sueur County Veterans Office to pick up a voucher, while they last, said the press release. This is a benefit for veterans of Le Sueur County because of their service to our nation.

The Dakota-Rice-Scott League will have a slightly different look next summer when teams take the field and the St. Patrick Irish isn’t one of them.

The Irish, a Class A team, announced earlier this month they were leaving the DRS and joining the other Class A teams in the River Valley League. An announcement the team posted on social media noted the move puts the Irish in closer proximity with Class A RVL teams like Burnsville, Chanhassen, Chaska, Eagan, Prior Lake, Shakopee and Victoria.

James (Jim) Francis Kalina, age 90, of Lonsdale, MN, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on October 21, 2025. Jim was born in Wheatland Township, MN, on January 6, 1935, to Max and Emma (Cecka) Kalina. After high school, he served his country in the U.S. Army, stationed in Korea.

Some people make golf, painting, photography, porcelain figurines or traveling to exotic places as a favorite hobby. Paul Bongers enjoys growing pumpkins in the backyard of his house in Lonsdale.

And for Bongers, bigger is unquestionably better.

He grows Dills Giant Atlantic pumpkins in his backyard. He started growing them in 2020. This year’s crop of three pumpkins ranged from 1,200 pounds when it split, a condition leading to rot, to 1,219 pounds and the largest of the three tipping the scale at 1,819 pounds.

Montgomery Chamber of Commerce and the Community Economic Development Association (CEDA) held a Business and Retention Engagement Conversation at the Montgomery Police Department on Monday.

Business owners and leaders of the community were treated to lunch and participated in open conversation about the climate of business within the city of Montgomery.

The Titans boys soccer team couldn’t muster a win at the Tuesday, Oct. 21, state quarterfinals game in Shakopee against the Academy of the Holy Angels. 
 

A strong, cold west/northwest wind worked to their disadvantage in the first period and helped somewhat in their second period.

Despite the cold and windy conditions, a crowd of over 100 Titan fans showed up to support the hometown team and were very audible the whole game. 
 

Paul Adolf Swidorski, age 87, of Montgomery, died on the morning of Friday, September 26, 2025, at the Belle Plaine Lutheran Home.

Tri-City United Boys Soccer Team is hoping for further advancement Tuesday, Oct. 21, 5:30 p.m., in the Minnesota State High School League's Boys Soccer Class A State Tournament. The quarterfinal game is being held at the Shakopee West Middle School's Vaughan Field, 200 10th Avenue East.

Spectators should park on the east side of the stadium, entering along Spencer Street South, and enter at the main entrance to the field on the north side. Additional parking will be available in the middle school's parking lot directly to the north. 

Leonard Kaderlik, age 87, of Faribault, MN, passed away on October 13, 2025, at United Hospital, St. Paul, MN.

It was an action-packed, pleasant week for Tri-City United Schools homecoming week.

Festivities were kicked off Monday with coronation and the start of daily themed dress-up days. Wednesday was a flip of the sports with boys playing a volleyball game and the girls playing the powderpuff football game.

Two big wins have propelled the Tri-City United (TCU) boys soccer team into the Section 2A Championship match.

The Titans (14-5-0) will play St. Peter (9-6-3) for the third time this season on Thursday, Oct. 16, at Austin for the right to advance to the Class A State Tournament.

TCU is 2-0 this season against the Saints, winning 3-2 in September and 5-0 in October.

The Titans advanced to the Championship after defeating Butterfield-Odin United, 12-1, Thursday, Oct. 9 and defeated No. 4 seed Albert Lea, 4-2, Saturday, Oct. 11.

Rose Mary (Rosie) Gill passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, October 14. She was born on July 30, 1932, to Joseph and Eva (Dorzinski) Gill and grew up on the family farm in rural Union Hill. She graduated from New Prague High School and went on to dedicate her life to a long and successful career in the banking industry, retiring in 2004.

Students from around the greater area flocked to Tri-City United PreK-8 School’s back yard last Friday afternoon for the Montgomery Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization’s Ninja Warrior Family Night fundraiser.

This year featured a new, more ‘ninja-like’ course feature that had hanging rings, climbing wall, ladder hang, platforms, rope climbing, and foot course by Ninja Anywhere. There was also an inflatable course adjacent to it.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport measured two temperature records this past weekend, both on Saturday, Oct. 4. An all-time monthly record for highest low temperature was measured of 72 degrees from an observation history of 152 years.

Later in the day, it reached 91 degrees, which is the fourth time that has ever happened in the month of October. It was also the second hottest temperature recorded, second to Oct. 1, 2023, with a temperature of 92 degrees.

Donald William Rynda, age 94, of Montgomery, passed away peacefully Monday, October 6, 2025, at Central Health Care in Le Center.

Don was born on September 6, 1931, in Montgomery Township, Le Sueur County, to William and Bessie (Slavik) Rynda. He grew up on the family farm in rural Montgomery, where he began his education in country school. It was there he first learned English, which he proudly taught to his family. Don graduated from Montgomery High School in 1949. 

It’s been a couple of weeks now since Mayo Clinic Health System (MCHS) announced it would be closing a number of clinics in southern Minnesota, including here in Montgomery. Come Dec. 10, what will many people do?

I feel the answer to that question is whatever they are FORCED to do, not what is better for them.