After two years of cancellations due to the covid pandemic, crowns and kroj were back at the 33rd annual Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant on Saturday in Montgomery. After a competition in categories of talent, ethnic folk dress, on-stage interview, poise, appearance, and private interviews, new royalty were crowned. Marisa Winget (left) was crowned Queen. Sarah Holicky (center), of Montgomery, received the title of First Princess, and Hailie Wentworth was named Second Princess. Read more in the print edition. (Wade Young Photo)

Three young women will compete in the 33rd annual Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant on Saturday, April 9, at the Montgomery American Legion Club.
The candidates are: Sarah Holicky of Montgomery, Hailie Wentworth of St. Peter, and Marisa Winget of Northfield.
The candidates will compete in categories of talent, ethnic folk dress, on-stage interview, poise and appearance, as well as private interviews. The candidates must be of Czech, Slovak or Moravian descent.

I love organization. When I need something and find it where it’s supposed to be, I am a happy camper.
When I have to search for something that’s been misplaced, my blood pressure rises and my mood sours. That’s when the swearing starts.
Over the weekend, my wife Bonnie was upset because our family’s digital photos are everywhere. It’s important to note that she is a scrapbooker. She LIVES for family photos. It’s how she creates her beautiful pages.
“I just want all of my photos in one place,” she said.

Even though the spring weather has been unfavorable for outside track and field meets, the TCU Titans had a second week of competition at the Minnesota River Conference Indoor Meet at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
The meet was held on Friday at the Myers Field House. The girls’ team finished in second place with 122.50 points behind Belle Plaine with 238 points. Behind TCU were Sibley East in third, Mayer Lutheran in fourth, Lester Prairie in fifth, Le Sueur-Henderson (LSH) in sixth, and Norwood- Young America (NYA) in seventh place.

A company recently unveiled a program with local high school students that gave them hands-on experience with a career in the trades program.
Minnesota Millwork & Fixtures has been a leader in designing and building environments for the restaurant and hospitality industries. This includes design, prototype building, and installation of commercial cabinetry and architectural millwork. Products built and designed at the Lonsdale facility include wood, metal, and upholstered materials.

Valerie M. Hrabe, age 63, of Elko New Market, died peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.  Val was born on February 11, 1959 in Faribault to Ronald and Dorothy (Malecha) Machacek.  She graduated from Montgomery High School and started working at M.V.E. as a welder.  Unbeknown to Val, there was a young man who also worked at MVE.  They would finally meet when they both attended their milkman’s wedding dance; it was love at first sight for both of them and Val married Dan J. “Herbie” Hrabe on May 14, 1983 in Faribault.

Gregory John Vlasak, 73, of Montgomery passed away on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at his home. Visitation will be held on Friday, April 1 from 4 to 8 at the Schoenbauer Funeral Home in Montgomery. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 2 at 11 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Montgomery, with Pastor Jason Pollington officiating with visitation one hour prior at the church.
Interment will be held in St. John Catholic Cemetery. Military Honors will be provided by the Montgomery Area Veterans Honor Guard. 

The Waterville Fire Department was called to a fire at The Funky Munkey restaurant in Waterville early Saturday morning, March 26. According to a firefighter at the scene, the call was made at approximately 3 a.m.
People in the nearby apartments were evacuated.
Elysian Fire, Madison Lake Fire, Morristown Fire, Waseca Fire, Janesville Fire, Faribault Fire, Le Center Fire, Kilkenny Fire, and New Richland Fire were called to assist and helped extinguish the fire.
There have been no reports of injury.

Le Sueur County has a handful of roadway projects scheduled for 2022 which may limit travel to county roads.
In the northern-most portion of the county there will be a resurfacing project on the east side of New Prague.
The project is set to resurface one mile of County State Aide Highway 3 (141st Ave.) between CSAH 20 and State Highway 19. There will be Stabilized Full Depth Reclamation, bituminous paving, and aggregate shouldering.
The project is currently being advertised and the contractor is unknown. The start-up time will be late spring to early summer.

It was a near perfect performance for the New Prague/TCU/ LSJ/Belle Plaine/Jordan CI Division Adapted Floor Hockey team at the 2022 State Tournament held at Bloomington Jefferson High School March 18 and March 19.
The Trojans won their second State title. The first was in 2014. They defeated three teams at State by a total score of 35-4. They finished the year with a perfect 10-0 record.

They were so close.
Tri-City United High School’s Knowledge Bowl team came up just one point shy of moving on to the Regional Tournament last week when the Titans competed at the Sub-Regional event on March 10 at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The event ended the team’s season.
“We’ve had a pretty good season,” stated TCU Knowledge Bowl Advisor Peter Kuriger.

A spelling error led to WWII veteran Arnold “Buck” Zahratka, 96, earning one of the most famous military decorations in the world 78 years after the fact.
Zahratka’s son-in-law, Dale Stadstad said he was searching an online record of Buck’s WWII history with the 106th Infantry Division when he noticed Buck’s last name was misspelled.

Thirteen Titans from Tri-City United Titans have earned recognition by the Minnesota River Conference for their performance during the winter sports season.
Boys Basketball
Jonathan Hurd is a senior at TCU High School. Hurd played the position of wing/post during the season. According to his coach, Hurd has been a three-year starter, captain, hard worker, great teammate.

France bestowed its greatest honor to a Montgomery veteran on Wednesday, March 23.
WWII Veteran Arnold “Buck” J. Zahratka received the Legion of Honor by the Consul General of France, Yannick Tagand. The special event included remarks by U.S. Senators, officials from Minnesota Veterans Affairs, and Montgomery Mayor, Tom Eisert.

This Sunday, March 20, the 14th annual Roman Barten Memorial Breakfast will benefit Emma Burns, age 3, daughter of David and Carissa Burns of rural Henderson. The breakfast of pancakes, sausages and cinnamon rolls will be held from 8 am. to 1 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 411 Fourth Ave. SW in New Prague and it is a free will donation.

Summer may be prime time for parades and community festivals, but if you’re Irish in any way, be it by blood or in spirit, St. Patrick’s Day is the day to celebrate Irish culture and heritage.
For 40 years revelers have been gathering for a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Le Center, and Saturday’s festivities brought a crowd of many clad in green and filled with joy.
“This was really a great small-town parade,” said parade-goer Anna Wolf.
Wolf, who lives in Minneapolis, said this was her first time attending the parade and came because her best friend is from the area.