Tri-City United High School was host to the Minnesota River Conference (MRC) Speech Championship Meet on March 11, an annual event that brings together the best speech participants in the conference.
“This fine arts event captures excitement for our participants, parents and fans of speech,” said MRC President Randy Walsh of Sibley East High School, “Through the work of the coaches and students, the MRC continues to produce outstanding performers.”

The final game of the 2022-23 boys basketball season for the Tri-City United squad was played Tuesday, March 7 at New Ulm.
Minnesota Valley Lutheran defeated the Titans, 79-53, using a strong second half to advance. MVL won the North Sub-Section Championship and will play Maple River for the Section 2AA Championship Thursday.

Tri-City United has a team of five young students headed to the Region 9 Knowledge Bowl Sections. They are among 12 teams, out of the 41 in the region, that will be moving on to the competition in Mankato on Thursday, March 16.
Only two teams from Region 9 will move on to the state competition. If team TCU Blue succeeds at winning a spot at the state competition, they will compete against 47 other teams from around Minnesota at Cragun’s Conference Center in Brainerd April 13-14.

Six Tri-City United High School female weightlifters placed at the state competition. Halee Gargett claimed the title as the state champion in the 45 kg class.
The state weightlifting competition was held Saturday, March 11, in Cannon Falls. Coach Andrew Meier said, “Great way to end the year! All of the girls set personal records in at least one of their lifts. Ana Stasney improved her total by 6 kg! Halee becomes the schools 5th State Champion. She lifted very well.”

A fire started inside of an attached garage on the 500 block of 2nd Street SW on Friday, March 10 shortly before noon.
Renter of the house, Kyle Odenthal, said he was in the garage filling his snowblower with gas when the snowblower backfired and started the gas coming out of the can on fire. Odenthal was taken by surprise and the fire scorched his hand. During the ordeal, he says he spilt some of the gas on the garage floor and that too started on fire. He grabbed the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out but it was too large for that to be effective.

Al Christensen, Tri-County Solid Waste
Hello Everyone. I’m not ready to mow lawn or fight mosquitoes yet but I’m ready for a change or maybe my snow shovel is just begging for mercy! Our hazardous chemicals topic this month was prompted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), and I was glad they suggested it.
Mercury

Six Tri-City United High School female weightlifters placed at the state competition. Halee Gargett claimed the title as the state champion in the 45 kg class.
The state weightlifting competition was held Saturday, March 11, in Cannon Falls. Coach Andrew Meier said, “Great way to end the year! All of the girls set personal records in at least one of their lifts. Ana Stasney improved her total by 6 kg! Halee becomes the schools 5th State Champion. She lifted very well.”

One farmer that is involved in the Farmers Protecting Bridgewater Streams (FPBSP) Project took initiative to help promote a better landscape, waterway, and ecosystem many years ahead of it.

The Montgomery Area Community Club (MACC) announces their button design contest winner, Ana Stasney of Montgomery.
Stasney received $150 Monty Bucks, a Kolacky Days t-shirt, a limited edition oversized collectable Kolacky Days Button, and two regular-sized Kolacky Days buttons of the design she created.
The process for designs was started in Oct. 2022, when MACC asked for designs to be submitted. After designs were submitted in early November, all members of the MACC voted later in the month for their favorite out of the 13 submitted.

The 2023 Lonsdale State of the City/Schools was held to a full house in the Lonsdale Public Library on March 7. Attendees dined to a box lunch from Subway sponsored by Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric. The event was coordinated by the Lonsdale Chamber of Commerce.
Mayor of Lonsdale
Lonsdale Mayor Tim Rud spoke about the progress of the City of Lonsdale over the decades but emphasized how things changed in the 1990’s to the 2000’s. The Mayor said that there was tremendous growth during this period and it changed the way the city operated.

After winning all its regular season games and cruising through a tough state field to the championship game, the New Prague High School floor hockey team finished second in the state, falling in the championship game to Burnsville, 15-6, Saturday afternoon, March 18, at Bloomington Jefferson High School.

Six Titan weightlifters are headed to the state championship on March 11 in Cannon Falls.
Whether or not weightlifting is a sport has been a long debate and it currently doesn’t fall under the Minnesota High School League’s guidance as a sport. Because of this, all teams that do participate are a part of USA Weightlifting and meets are sanctioned by them.
Weightlifters headed to state
First appearance
Elizabeth Odenthal in 87+ KG class
Julia Odenthal in 81 KG class
Caleigh Hoefs in 81 KG class
Second appearance

Owners JoAnn and Joel Erickson started their passion-business, Something for All, 14 years ago in Lonsdale.
The shop at 135 Main Street S lives up to its name. It’s not strictly antiques. It’s not completely crafts. It’s not a thrift store. It has elements of just a little bit of each. It’s “Something for All.”

The Tri-City United High School’s student Art Night has become a popular annual tradition for students says Tony Barnack, art teacher and advisor for the TCU ARTeam.
TCU’s ARTeam has 65 students and many of them were in attendance for Art Night. A total of 53 students participated in Art Night.
Barnack says that they even bring back former art teachers and former students that have become art teachers at other schools for the event. “It’s a great way for them to reconnect and see alumni and other people they may know,” says Barnack.

Tri-City United Schools Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter held a regional contest March 1 at the high school and the American Legion in Montgomery.
Students competed in three areas of career development: small animals, meats, and forestry. The forestry and meats competition were held at the American Legion and the small animals portion was held at the performing arts center at the high school.
A total of 34 FFA chapters from Region 7A visited to compete. There were 22 teams, 12 schools, and over 200 participants.

A fire engulfed a barn owned by John Winjum on 354th Street, or Le Sueur County Road 124, about a mile east of Clear (Lexington) Lake on the afternoon on Tuesday, March 6.
The building, with a pole shed lean-to attached, was a total loss. Buildings nearby were not affected, including the old original uninhabited house.
No animals or property were in the building, which was mostly filled with old hay that was left from the previous owner. The hay was still smoldering the day after with much hay left even after the fire.