This year I reached 24 years being a combination reporter and photographer. Reaching that milestone reminded me of some time back when someone asked me how long I had been a reporter. At the time it was about 20 years and she was a little surprised as she thought people today don’t seem to stay in one field that long. I could understand as it seems people have moved on to a second career in another field before they reach 50 these days. It also seems that a few people have a third career before they retire.

The New Prague Trojan girls hockey team upped its record to 7-4-1 as they closed out their pre-Christmas schedule last week with a pair of wins. New Prague defeated Hutchinson and Faribault.
The Trojans will compete in the Farmington Tournament beginning Wednesday, Dec. 26. Their first round game was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday against Eastview. They will play Simley at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 27, and take on host Farmington at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28.

The New Prague Trojan wrestling team headed into the Christmas break with a pair of convincing wins last week. New Prague defeated Blue Earth Area and Le Sueur-Henderson in a home triangular Tuesday, Dec. 18.

The Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners approved the final pay 2019 levy in the amount of $20,716,550, a 6.9 percent increase over the 2018 levy. This levy was approved during an early evening meeting Tuesday, Dec. 18. For more information on the levy check out the Dec. 27 edition of the Life/Enterprise.

After more than 36 years in the financial/banking industry, Ed Hrabe is calling it a career.
Hrabe was hired to manage the State Insurance Agency, operated by the State Bank of New Prague, in 1982. After a year and a half, bank president Don Sirek asked him to join the bank’s lending department. He was later promoted to assistant vice president and, in 2003, as vice president for the bank, which in 2016 became part of First Bank and Trust. Over the years he has helped thousands of customers in securing home, auto and other consumer loans.

The snowstorm that affected much of Minnesota has caused a schedule change for the New Prague Trojan wrestling team.
The team was scheduled to compete in the Rumble on the Red Tournament in Fargo, ND. However forecasts for that area called for as much as 13 inches of snow by Thursday morning, when the team was scheduled to leave. The tournament pushed back its starting schedule for Friday and a number of teams, including New Prague, cancelled their plans.

The Elko New Market City Council adopted three resolutions at its Thursday, Dec. 20, meeting. One was a resolution approving the city’s 2019 budget, the second was to approve the 2018 tax levy, collectable in 2019 and the third was to approve use of debt service fund balances to cover under levied bonds.

The New Prague Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors announced today the promotion of Brooke Sticha to Executive Director. Brooke previously was the Event Coordinator for the chamber. “Brooke has played a vital role at the chamber office for the past four years. We are thrilled to have her accept the role as Executive Director and are confident that she will do a great job,” said Barb Skluzacek, President of the New Prague Chamber of Commerce. Brooke has been the interim Executive Director since mid-November of this year.

Due to the huge success of, and overwhelming community response to last February’s event, the New Prague Veterans Memorial Committee has decided to host another Music Fest fundraiser (NPVM Music Fest II).

We just want to take a minute today to invite you to Christmas. There are great churches in this community and we hope that you can find one that feels like home for you to worship at this year.

We represent diverse expressions, but we share a common hope: that in a manger there was born the Christ child the One who made the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

The Lonsdale City Council approved to slightly reduce the city’s tax rate in 2019 on Thursday night.
“The focus was to keep the tax levy the same,” said Mayor Tim Rud at the Lonsdale City Council meeting.
As such, the tax levy portion of next year’s budget was approved for $2,070,000. It will increase the city’s tax revenue by $206,600.

The New Prague Trojan boys basketball team suffered a disappointing loss to Chanhassen Tuesday, Dec. 11, but rebounded with a come-from-behind win over Centennial Friday, Dec. 14, to go to 2-3 on the young season.
The team will travel to Farmington Friday, Dec. 21, for a game against a Section 1AAAA foe. They will compete in the East Ridge Tournament Thursday and Friday, Dec. 27, and 28. They take on Eastview at 6 p.m. Thursday and then face Rosemount at 6 p.m. Friday.

The New Prague Trojan boys hockey team won one of three games last week. They started the week with a loss at Holy Angels, then hosted two northern teams over the weekend, defeating Duluth Denfeld and losing to Hermantown.
The Trojans (4-4) were scheduled to host Hutchinson Tuesday, Dec. 18, in a Wright County Conference game. They will travel to St. Michael-Albertville for a 2 p.m. game Saturday, Dec. 22.

The New Prague Trojan girls basketball team had a rough week last week, losing two games decisively, then losing a third on a buzzer beater.

Pastors from New Prague’s Faith Community sent a message to the community urging them to share in the Christmas spirit and attend the church service of their choice during the holiday season.
Along with the message, found elsewhere on this page, they recorded a video of all the pastors sharing this message. That message was posted on The New Prague Times’ Facebook page Monday afternoon. Within five minutes, it already had several “likes,” meaning people had seen the video and clicked on the “like” button.

The Bolin Brothers gather around the piano during the Dec. 15 concert. From left is Joseph, Ben and John (seated). Ben Bolin is the pastor of Calvary ChurchThe trio, who come from a family of eight children, performed traditional Christmas songs, plus one they wrote together. (Patrick Fisher Photo)