The New Prague Trojan girls hockey team went 1-1-1 during a busy week of action last week. The squad began with a 3-2 loss to Chaska/Chanhassen, then tied St. Paul United (No. 4, Class A) 2-2 in the first round of the Prior Lake Tournament. United won a shootout 3-2 to advance to the championship game, but the game goes down in the books officially as a tie. They finished with a 5-1 win over Prior Lake in the third place game of the tourney.

The New Prague Area School Board heard reports on a therapy dog pilot project and the Worlds Best Workforce during their meeting Monday, Nov. 26. They also discussed the annual superintendent performance review and approved the superintendent’s contract for the next three years.
Amy Hennen, social worker at Falcon Ridge Elementary, received permission this year to use her licensed therapy dog, AJ, in a school setting this year. Hennen told board members that the dog comes to school several times a month and interacts with students individually and in a classroom setting.

Workers for New Prague Utilities put lights on the Community Christmas Tree in Memorial Park Thursday morning, Nov. 29. A ceremonial tree lighting will take place Friday, Nov. 30, following the city's annual Parade of Lights. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. going east from First Avenue NE toward Memorial Park, and the tree lighting will take place at approximately 7:15 p.m., followed by a fireworks display.

Mindy Wescott of New Prague became a new homeowner through Habitat for Humanity South Central Minnesota. A dedication ceremony for Wescott’s new home along Wencel Avenue NE was held on Tuesday, Nov. 20, and was attended by 17 people representing the New Prague chapter of Habitat for Humanity South Central Minnesota, its Mankato office and volunteers who helped build the house.
“It’s thrilling that we’ve gotten to this point,” said Pam O’Brien, co-chair of the New Prague chapter of Habitat for Humanity with Mary Bender. She added it was an appropriate time as it was Thanksgiving.

Le Sueur County will be honored Monday, Dec. 3 during the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT) Annual Meeting in Bloomington.
MCIT announced last week that Le Sueur County has been selected as the 2018 County of the Year.
"The county has distinguished itself in the areas of loss control, risk management, claims administration, and responsiveness to MCIT," MCIT Executive Director Robyn M. Sykes said. "MCIT commends the county's commitment to managing exposures that jeopardize employees and citizens of the county to loss."

Simply wonderful.
That is the theme our newspaper chose to highlight the Christmas season.
So many times, we can take the simplest of ideas and make a mess of them, going way too far into detail and complicating even the simplest of endeavors.
So here is a simple piece of advice as you enter the holiday season: Enjoy it.
Don’t fret over which holiday party you’re going to attend or what to wear or what to bring as a gift.
Don’t worry that you’re going to offend someone if you have to leave an event early, or if you don’t show up at all.

Carmen Brandel, age 62, of Hayward, WI passed away on Friday, November 16, 2018 at her home.

Julia J. Schoenbauer Krautkremer, age 95, of New Prague, died peacefully, surrounded by family on Sunday, November 25, 2018 at Mala Strana Rehabilitation Center.  Julie was born on December 12, 1922 in Mahnomen, MN to James J. and Mary (Stolka) Jirik.  She attended Mahnomen Country School and married Alfred S. Schoenbauer on November 21, 1944 in Mahnomen.  The couple lived in St. Paul for the first years of their marriage and moved to New Prague in 1963.  After Alfred’s death in 1974, Julia married Omer A. Krautkremer on April 14, 1978 at St.

Le Sueur County has a furry, four-legged crime fighter.
The county’s newest K-9, “Jett”, started work on November 20.
The county secured Jett, a purebred German Shepherd, last autumn when he was around nine-weeks-old. Jett was bred locally from Kozie Shepherds in southern Minnesota and attended his K9 academy with Le Sueur County Deputy Joe Kern at Performance Kennels in Buffalo. Nationally Certified K9 Trainer, Steve Pearson, was responsible for training Jett.

Dennis Jasperson, standing, talks with Zach Thompson, Tara Thompson and Audre Johnson during the Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New Prague Thursday, Nov. 22. Johnson helped start the annual event, which is now in its 10th year. While she turned the event over to Donna Galvin and others last year, she still helps volunteer for the dinner, greeting people at the door but staying out of the kitchen. Galvin said they had one of their largest turnouts this year. See more in an upcoming print edition of The Times.

Senior Kaitlyn Blair had a career game to lead the New Prague Trojans to a 9-2 win over Red Wing in their season opening girls hockey game Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Blair, a six-year varsity player, scored three goals and added four assists, accounting for seven points. Two other Trojans, Ellie Skaja and Lindsey Bjerke, added two goals apiece and Abby Pirkl and Hanah Robasse each had a goal.
Pirkl, MacKenzie O’Brien, Lexi Kocina and Bjerke each added assists.
Goaltender Mariah Marek stopped 20 of 22 shots to take the win in net.

The owners of Farmhouse Market, a tech-savvy local and organic foods market that was recently featured in the New York Times, have partnered with four New Prague High School students to launch a new business extension they hope will increase tourism and business for downtown New Prague.

Leonard A. Shimota, Age 91 of Hugo passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on November 18th.
Len was an accomplished artist and musician. After serving our country in the Korean War, he came back to work as a designer at Dayton’s for almost 40 years. He is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Anna and his brother, Wilbert. Len is survived by his wife, Rita; children Lindsay (Don) Sovil, Jenny (Brad Bohlmann), Jon, Patrick; and granddaughter, Casey Sovil.
Private family services have been held. MuellerMemorial.com 651-774-9797

This week, as Americans gather for their Thanksgiving feast, they will have plenty to be thankful for.
We can be thankful for our family, who love and support us in our daily lives, who are there for us when we need help, and who, in turn, receive love and support from us when they need it.
We can be thankful for the farmers who spend long hours to grow crops and raise livestock, who make the food that we feast on at Thanksgiving and every other day of the week.

The last few months have seemed to go by in a blur at the newspaper. It seems like it was just a short time ago when we were preparing for the school year and fall sports to begin and elections to take place, and now they’re all over, we’ve already jumped into the winter sports season and are preparing for the holiday season.