Margaret Louise (Knutson) Hazelton, age 78, of New Prague, MN, formerly of Chaska, MN, died peacefully on Monday, October 14, 2024, at her home.
 Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2024, 2:00 p.m. at Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church, 145 Engler Blvd., Chaska, MN. The family will receive friends 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. at the church. The inurnment will take place at a later date at Hillside Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN.

It was a question that needed to be asked but wasn’t expected. The position of the school board on this issue is critical to the financial future of the New Prague Area School District and the relief candidates for seats on the board brought is welcomed.
The question to board candidates at the forum held Tuesday, Oct. 15: Should the New Prague School District remain a member in the Minnesota State High School League? The six candidates all answered in the affirmative.

Scott County commissioners recently decided the 96-acre industrial park in northeastern New Market Township will not need additional environmental review before it is developed.

New Prague High School swept visiting Rochester Mayo, 3-0, in the first game of the Section 1AAAA quarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 23.
The No. 3 seeded Trojans hosted Rochester Mayo, No. 6 seed, and won 25-16, 25-16 and 25-15. Statistics on the Trojans performance were not immediately available.
New Prague will now face No. 2 seed Lakeville North Wednesday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m., at Lakeville North High School. The Panthers swept Rochester Century Tuesday night, 25-15, 25-11 and 25-9.
For more information, see an upcoming print edition of The New Prague Times.

Joey Friendshuh and other members of the NPHS football team helped load pumpkins from a field at Barten’s Pumpkins into a larger wooden container to be transported from the pumpkin field to a display area for sale at Barten Pumpkins just west of New Prague along Highway 19. Saturday, Oct. 5, seniors on NPHS’s football team helped Barten Pumpkins with some field work in exchange for a donation to the football program.

Girls win honors; Wolf runs to HM
Throughout the season, the New Prague cross-country runners have been training to perform their best when the time was right. That approach paid off with fast times and honors earned during the Metro West Conference meet last Tuesday afternoon at Hyland Greens in west Bloomington.
The NP girls earned a third-place finish in the team standings and runners winning all-conference and allconference/honorable mention honors.

Michael Kevin Gleason, 38, died by suicide on October 22, 2024, after a long and brave battle with depression, anxiety and alcoholism. He will be deeply missed by all who loved him.

Richard J. Heinen passed away on September 26, 2024, in Mankato, Minnesota. A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, October 27, 2024, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Wagner Funeral Home, Jordan, Minnesota. Burial will be at Fort Snelling in Bloomington, MN, on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at 11:30 a.m.
Richard was born October 16, 1961, in Hopkins, Minnesota.
Rick died after a battle with lung cancer. He went to high school in Jordan, Minnesota. He loved fishing, hunting, camping, sitting around the fire, and barbecuing with friends and family.

John William Chromy, age 82, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, has concluded a full life of service, countless friendships, and worldwide adventures. John was born in New Prague, Minnesota. He grew up on the family farm with his parents, Stanley W. Chromy Sr. and Mary R. (Horejsi) Chromy, and his eight siblings. He attended St. Wenceslaus Catholic School and graduated from New Prague High School in 1960. He attended St. John's University but left in 1963, answering President Kennedy's challenge for young Americans to serve in the newly formed Peace Corps.

Anita Ann York, age 66, of New Prague, died Friday, October 18, 2024.  She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 6, 1958, to parents, Eugene and Gena York.  She graduated from Forest Lake High School as Valedictorian in 1976 and attended Lakewood Community College, earning an Associate Degree.  She later earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2003.  She spent most of her career working at the Controller level, managing teams of accounting staff in the property management industry, retiring in 2017. 

We find ourselves once again in the fall season when trees change colors and farmers are busy harvesting their crops.
This fall, Minnesota has been spoiled with warmer than average temperatures in August and September. It’s only been over the last few weeks temperatures have begun to plummet into the 50s and 40s. Temperatures have also been cold enough for frost warnings to spring up once or twice during the night.

It took some of the young children a little while to warn up to the notion of boarding a loud train from yesteryear and riding on a set of rails to pick out a pumpkin in time for Halloween.
But shortly after reaching the pumpkin patch at Gopher State Railway Museum Saturday, any apprehension quickly disappeared. Charlotte Theis, age 3, took her time selecting a pumpkin and then couldn’t wait for the train ride back to the museum. She visited the museum with a younger sibling, Grace, and her parents, Jess and Sam of Cologne.

Rita Jane Razidlo, loving wife, loving mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away on October 16, 2024, at Good Samaritan in Waconia, at 84 years old. She was known for her warm heart, her quick smile, and her genuine capacity to make everyone feel valued and heard.
Memorial Mass of Christian Burial to be held Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Victoria Catholic Church (8228 Victoria Dr.) in Victoria with Father Bob White as Celebrant of the Mass. Visitation 1 hour prior to the Mass.

New Prague’s plans of advancing swimmers to the state meet head into overdrive in the next few weeks now that the regular season has come to an end.
The Trojans finished sixth at the True Team section meet last weekend in Lakeville, Oct. 11-12. Coach Cassie Kieffer said swimmers performed well against challenging competition. The Trojans finished with 880 points. Rochester Century won the event with 1,379.5 points.
The Trojans hosted Orono, one of the state’s top teams, Tuesday night, Oct. 15. Details of the meet were not available when The New Prague Times went to press.

New Prague High School held its first Career & Tech Day Friday, Oct. 11, bringing together 35 area businesses and 625 students, 300 eighth-graders and 325 10th-graders, to interact and allow students to find out more about community employers.
“We want to expose the students to as many occupation possibilities at an early age to help them make good decisions when they register for classes,” said director of Educational Services Tony Buthe. When students find out what classes they need for an occupation, they can take as many classes as possible, said...