The 2024-2025 season for the Tri-City United (TCU) girls basketball team featured a number of career best performances.
The Titans tied for the Big South Conference Championship in their first season in the conference and they tied a school record with their 19 wins. They finished 19-8 overall and advanced to the Section 2AA Semifinals.
Junior Ella Schmiesing and seniors Emma Skluzacek and Lexi Marcussen each set new school records.

Montgomery American Legion Post #79 is featuring Milo Kaisersatt, U.S. Army - Private First Class E-3 - Korea, in their next installment of the Thank A Living Veteran display.
Kaisersatt was born, grew up and lived in Montgomery all of his years, with the exception of the time he sacrificed for our country. He served in the latter part of the Korean War, departing for overseas duty in March 1953, landing in Tokyo, Japan, for orientation.

Over 100 Montgomery residents showed up at the second town hall on Saturday, March 22, at city hall. The meeting lasted three-anda-half hours with residents concerned over the potential budget forecast with potential projects forthcoming. After the meeting, remaining residents were welcome to tour the fire hall and talk with firefighters to see the conditions they are dealing with.

Tri-City United (TCU) senior Eli Viskocil won the pole vault competition Saturday, March 23 at the Belle Plaine Indoor Invitational held at MSU-Mankato.
Viskocil cleared 8-feet to claim the title.
TCU scored 32.5 team points to place fourth in the meet. Belle Plaine (114), Sibley East (62.5), and Glencoe-Silver Lake (38) were the top three teams.

The Montgomery American Legion Post #79 was host to an American Legion birthday bash on Saturday, March 8. During the party, Auxiliary Unit #79 recognized members who have been with the unit for a length of time in ten-year increments.
“A handful of Unit #79 members were celebrated with ‘sincere appreciation of outstanding loyalty and dedication to the American Legion Auxiliary organization’,” said 1st Vice President Michelle Vlasak.

Memorial Park has been receiving some greatly needed improvements over the last year and there is much more to come, as heard at the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting on Monday, March 10.
Montgomery Public Works added new sand to the volleyball courts and dirt surrounding them last fall. Public Works Supervisor Nick Filipek said that they will be adding more dirt and seeding around the courts this fall again, to give it a better slope that isn’t so steep.

Merlin James Plonsky left this world peacefully on March 19, 2025, at the age of 79, surrounded by his family at Central Health Care in Le Center. Merlin was born on April 24, 1945, to Peter and Cecelia (Konopik) Plonsky. He grew up in Montgomery and graduated in 1963 from Montgomery High School.
 He was united in marriage to Carmen Dalsted, on May 8, 1965. He started his career as a professional painter alongside his father-in-law and later went on his own as Plonsky Painting.

Rhoda Ann Duffney, age 93 of Montgomery, died in the early morning of Thursday, March 13, 2025, at the Faribault Medical Center.

Robert “Bob” Ernest Sapp, of Le Center, passed away March 12, 2025, at St. Mary’s Campus in Rochester, Minnesota.

Residents in the city of Montgomery face estimated city taxes doubling for a significant period of time, nearly tripling for a portion of that time, over the next 25 years.
Inflation has caused projects and goods to increase more substantially than projected when the items were first introduced. These include a new fire hall, renovation of city hall, purchasing of a new fire department **pumper truck, and the declining state of the city’s infrastructure underneath the streets as well as the streets themselves.

Youth soccer is a growing sport in the nation and locally. A report from the Montgomery Messenger Sports & Fitness Industry Association says that there are about 4.6 million players, roughly of one-third of all players in the United States, in the 6-12 age group alone. There have been steady increases in the number of players with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020.
The Minnesota Youth Soccer Association has approximately 25,000 players, which range from ages 6 to 19, and 8,000 coaches and administrators.

A water main break on 5th Street NW just south of Lexington Avenue NW is being worked on by construction crews from Selly Excavating. Crews on site said it should be fixed completely by about 2 p.m. today, Friday, March 14. More information will be in the print issue of the Montgomery Messenger on March 20.

The annual Czech Mardi Gras celebration on Sunday, March 2, marked its silver anniversary, celebrating 25 years as an annual festival in Montgomery with a full house at the Revival on Main.
Entertainment included music by Georges Concertina Band and cultural dancing by the St. Paul Czech and Slovak Adult Dancers. People from the audience were invited up front at the Revival on Main after the group had finished dancing to learn a dance, which many obliged.

Montgomery Fire Department members that participated in the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb are pictured at the event in the Capella Tower in Minneapolis on Saturday.  They climbed 52 flights of stairs, with full gear, and raised $1,500 — about $500 more than what was raised last year. Sean Benz was recognized as the top fundraiser of the group.

MANKATO - The No. 2 seed NRHEG girls basketball team used a strong second half to defeat No. 3 seed Tri-City United, 81-55, in the Section 2AA Semifinal game played at MSU-Mankato Monday, March 4.
The Panthers outscored the Titans 44-24 in the second half after leading 37-31 at halftime.
NRHEG twin sisters Quinn VanMaldeghem and Camryn VanMaldeghem combined for 53 points. They scored 34 of their team’s 44 second half points.

Kolacky Days members chose the design from Dawn (Ruhland) Elfstrand as the 2025 Button Contest winner out of 10 entries. The 256 members voted on the design back in November, with designs being accepted in October.
Elfstrand, who now lives in Madison Lake, Minn., and works as a buyer for a school district, is a Montgomery native.
“It was pretty exciting. It was the first time I submitted a button. I made several designs, and I emailed them to my kids and husband. They chose the final one I entered,” said Elfstrand.