Ricky Fehler, age 59, of New Prague, died peacefully after an extended illness on Sunday, September 2, 2018 at Methodist Hospital.  Ricky was born on October 31, 1958 to Robert and Diana (Zick) Fehler in St. Paul.  He was raised in the Apple Valley area and graduated from Rosemount High School.  Ricky worked as a heavy equipment operator and was now retired.  He was a member of IUOE Local 49.  In his spare time, he enjoyed working on cars and tractors and farming with his dad on the family farm in Jordan.

Dale William Benson passed away on Friday, August 31, 2018 at the age of 59. Dale was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 15, 1959.  
Dale was born to parents Elinore (Lynn) and William (Bill) Benson. He married Vicki Benson on August 11, 1979. They have two children: Son, Kaleb (Cassie) Benson and granddaughter, Kendra Benson; daughter, Krystle (Shawn) Bloch and grandsons, Viktor, Thor, and granddaughter, Vivian. Dale and Vicki lived in Montgomery, MN until Dale was diagnosed with cancer.  After that time they moved to the hunting shack in McGrath, MN.

Grounds crew volunteers used bags of diamond dust, large sponges, squeegies, rakes and industrial strength leaf blowers, among other means, to dry and repair the infield at the conclusion of a 90-minute rain delay midway through the Class C State Championship baseball game at New Prague’s Memorial Park Monday, Sept. 3. As many as 30 people helped get the field back into playable condition following the rain. Plato scored eight runs in the first inning of the game and held on for an 8-5 win over Sobieski to claim the crown.

The New Market Muskies were the last Dakota-Rice-Scott baseball team to bow out of the State Amateur Baseball Tournamet, but they didn't go down easily. The Muskies tied Young America late in regulation before falling to the Cardinals in 14 innings, 4-3. the quarterfinal game was played Sunday afternoon in Shakopee
In the semifinals in Shakopee Sunday evening, Sobieski defeated Young America 2-1 and Plato downed defending state champion Kimball 12-5. 
Sobieski and Plato are scheduled to play at 3 p.m. Monday at New Prague for the State Class C Championship. 

New Prague could not come up with the timely hit and lost its State Class C Tournament third round game to the Kimball Express 2-0 Saturday, Sept. 1, in New Prague. 
Nathan Sprouls pitched six innings and allowed just six hits while striking out 11, but one of those hits was a solo home run in the fifth inning that put the defending state champions on top 1-0. The Express also scored a run in the seventh off reliever Johnny Houston. Justin Novak had two hits for the Orioles. 

The New Prague Trojan football team got their season off to a big start as they defeated Red Wing 60-20 Friday, Aug. 31, at Red Wing. 

Parker Johnson threw five touchdown passes, two of them to Ryan Schoenabuer, and also scored on a 1-yard run. The Trojans had plenty of big plays, with five of their scores coming on plays of 50 yards or more. 

Read more in the September 6 issue of The Times.

Joseph Smisek, age 70 of Northfield, passed away unexpectedly at home on Thursday, August 30, 2018. Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00AM, Tuesday, September 4, 2018, at the Church of St. Dominic in Northfield.  Visitation will be at the church beginning at 9:00AM.  Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery, Faribault. Arrangements are with the Bierman Funeral Home.  www.biermanfuneralhome.com

The Minnesota Amateur Baseball Tournament will conclude this weekend with games at three sites, New Prague, Shakopee and Jordan. 

Champions in Class B and Class C will be crowned on Monday, Sept. 3, with the Class B championship game or games scheduled for noon in Shakopee. The Class C Championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. in New Prague. 

Three of four Dakota-Rice- Scott baseball teams won their second round games at the State Class C Amateur Baseball Tournament Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 25 and 26, in New Prague and Shakopee.
St. Patrick played on Saturday in Shakopee and lost 4- 3 to Red Wing. The other three teams, playing consecutive games on Sunday in New Prague, all claimed wins to advance to the tournament’s final weekend. New Market defeated Fort Ripley 4-3, New Prague beat Hanska 3-0 and Faribault defeated Mora 8-0.

August is nearly done and for me the month marks when I began working for The New Prague Times 19 years ago. I was 31 years old and in my first month at The Times I was part of two sections, the previews for New Prague High School’s fall sports and Dozinky, the city’s Czech harvest festival. Add to that my weekly duties of covering the city council meetings, sports, school activities and other events happening around the area and my plate was full.

Each year, the Minnesota State Fair features the state’s biggest boar, and this year, the prized pig has ties to Le Sueur County.
“Johnny,” a pig raised at Widmer Pork in the Heidelberg- New Prague area, topped the scales at 1,040 pounds and was featured first at the Le Sueur County Fair in Le Center before making the trek to the state fairgrounds last week. He is on display, where he is seen by thousands of people each day.

The New Prague Trojan girls swim and dive team opened its season Thursday, Aug. 23, with a meet at Mankato East.
The host Cougars claimed a 98-88 victory in the meet, but Coach Tracy Torgerson said there were plenty of New Prague highlights.

The New Prague Area School Board got an update on the high school roofing project and approved a plan to have a licensed therapy dog available at Falcon Ridge Elementary School during its meeting Monday, Aug. 27.
Roofing project Superintendent Tim Dittberner went over a report from Building and Grounds Director Craig Most regarding the roofing project.
“The project has not gone as smoothly as we would have liked,” Dittberner said. “Inside the building, most everything is complete, but they are finishing a few minor punch list items.”

It took a while to get going, but the New Prague Trojan volleyball team got on track in the second set and scored an impressive win in its season opener Thursday, Aug. 23, with a four-set win over the defending State Class A Champions Mayer Lutheran. The Trojans followed with a sweep of Faribault the next evening.
New Prague was scheduled to host Northfield Tuesday, Aug. 28, and will host Jordan on Thursday, Aug. 30. The team travels to Shakopee on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Helen Keogh, 89, of Montgomery, passed away on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, at Mala Strana Health Care in New Prague. 
 
Visitation will be held on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery from 9 to 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11 a.m. Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery in Montgomery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to American Macular Degeneration Association.
 

Raven Stream Elementary School principal Pat Pribyl, center, gets hugs from his students on their first day back to school the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 29. Parents were taking photos of their children heading back to school and providing some last minute advice as teachers greeted the students. New Prague Area Schools’ three elementary schools began their year two days behind the high school and middle school. (Patrick Fisher Photo)