The little Irish City of Kilkenny, Minnesota, did it again. The town, which boasts a population of 168, hosted hundreds of visitors for another grand ol’ Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day celebration on Saturday, Sept. 11. The day’s events included a car show, an Irish-themed parade, live music, food, local vendors, fireworks, and the ever-popular annual Toilet Bowl Races, which features teams of three racing down a street atop a rolling toilet and chugging beer (or root beer).

When the New Prague swimming and diving team competes on the road, the activities director of the school they are competing at should be ready to change his records boards.
In nearly every meet this year, a Trojan swimmer has set either a new New Prague record or a new pool record, which are displayed at most pools.
Payton Schieffer and the 200 Medley Relay Team continue to re-write the record books.
The Trojans started last week with a 97-89 win over St. Peter.

After a year off due to COVID-19, the Heidelberg Athletic Association’s annual event for its park and pavilion returned Sunday with strong support from area communities.
“It was the best turnout!” said Therese Hlavac, one of the event’s organizers. “Every dollar we earn goes into the Park, because all of the officers and workers are volunteers.”
The event had something for everyone. Inside of the pavilion were brats, burgers and more food for sale. Outside, there were several vendor booths selling a variety of items and equipment for the kids to stay entertained.

Two personal records and three season best times helped the New Prague girls cross country team placed ninth out of 26 teams at the Tri City United Gerry Smith Invitational Thursday, Sept. 9.
The Trojans scored 237 in the meet, which was won by Mound Westonka.
Nora Rosemeier led the team with a 14th place finish in 20:21.
Sophie Baker placed 27th overall in a personal best time of 21:08.
Faith Boyer finished 47th in a season best time of 22;10.
Abbey Carlson placed 52nd in a season-best time of 22:23.

All the elements came together for this year’s One Book, One New Prague event at Next Chapter Winery last weekend: good weather, an entertaining author, and an engaged group of about 100 readers. The event was sponsored by the New Prague Community Action Network, Scott County Library, Next Chapter Winery, and Giesenbrau Bier Company.

When I grabbed the can koozie from the cupboard and looked at the inscription it stopped me. “2020 The year Dozinky didn’t happen.” That’s what the pandemic caused. But that’s not what caught my attention. It was the memories from 20 years ago when Dozinky almost didn’t happen!
It was Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, and our community was eagerly anticipating the coming weekend of Cruise and Dozinky. I was serving on the New Prague Chamber Board at the time and we were putting the final touches on all the necessary preparations.

The New Prague girls soccer team dropped a pair of contests last week.
The Trojans were defeated Thursday, Sept. 9 by Benilde St. Margaret's, 9-0, in a Metro West contest.
Two days later Owatonna defeated New Prague, 5-1.
"The box score doesn't show how well we played. The final score makes the game look a lot worse than it was," head coach Matt Anderson said about the Thursday loss.

On Saturday, Sept.

First Bank & Trust of New Prague announced on its Facebook site that the Dozinky Medallion has been found. Amanda Myers, Wendy Anderson, and Anne Stroening discovered the medallion. The bank has an annual hunt for the medallion, which is hidden somewhere in the community, and people depend on weekly clues to try and find the medallion. The fourth clue to the location of the medallion was released yesterday. (Photo courtesy of First Bank & Trust)

Elko New Market observed the 20th anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001 on Saturday, Sept. 11, with a large US flag flying from a fire truck from the Elko New Market Fire Department. The department and the Elko New Market Police Department held a joint open house from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday. The event included tours of the new police department building, demonstrations of how to deal with grease fires and the landing of a helicopter from North Memorial Health Air Care. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Proud Irishmen and women--and those who are Irish at heart--are shining up their shamrocks in anticipation for Kilkenny’s Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day celebration this Saturday, September 11.
Dale and Kathleen Hamele, longtime Kilkenny residents and business owners, have been named this year’s grand marshals. The couple has owned and operated West Side Repair in Kilkenny for 30 years.

Ruth D. Brooks, age 82, of Heidelberg, after a sudden stroke died peacefully with family at her side on Saturday September 4, 2021 at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, Minnesota.  Ruth was born June 23, 1939 in Osseo, Minnesota to Erick A. and Celia R. (Klaustermeier) Spleiss.  She graduated from Osseo High School and married Ellsworth W. Stankey on August 23, 1958 at Kingsbury, South Dakota.  Ruth raised her family in Shakopee and also worked as a machine operator at the Gedney Pickle factory in Chaska for over 40 years.

The September 1, 2021, issue of the Belle Plaine Herald, will be the last.
The newspaper’s owners, the Townsend Family, announced the news on its front page this week.
“The Townsend Family is sadly publishing the final edition of the Belle Plaine Herald, after nearly 140 years of covering the news in Belle Plaine and the surrounding area. This is the one article I hoped we would never have to print,” stated publisher and editor E. Daniel Townsend, who’s been employed at the newspaper and print company as long as he can remember.

A large crowd and good weather greeted The Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Show Friday Aug. 27, through Sunday, Aug. 29. The annual show features tractors of all years, sizes and models.
“We had extremely good attendance this year,” said Bill Thelemann of the Pioneer Power Tractor Show. “We dodged the main (predicted) rain storms.”

The Duck Cup Memorial had speaker Joe Beckman address the teachers of New Prague Area Schools on Thursday, Aug. 26, in the high school auditorium. Beckman encouraged the teachers to reclaim the human connection in their schools.

Roseann Louise Whipple, age 73, of Elko New Market, MN, was a caring mother, sister, grandmother, and friend. With profound sadness, we announce that she passed away suddenly August 6th, 2021, on the East Bank of the Mississippi River at Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN.