Kids dressed in winter clothes, sitting on a colored brick wall, pointing to fireworks make up this year’s official button for the annual Torchlight Parade and Fireworks celebration.
Out of hundreds of entries from TCU Schools and Most Holy Redeemer, Wendoli Castaneda-Gonzalez, a fifth grader at TCU Montgomery Elementary and Middle School, created the winning design. Castaneda-Gonzalez (center) and her classmates learned of the news on Thursday during school by Torchlight committee member Neaner Kriha, who also treated the class to a pizza lunch from Pizzeria201.

Kenneth(Ken) J. Mares, age 61 of Lakeville, passed away on Oct. 10, 2021.  Ken was preceded in death by his loving parents Myles & Dorothy.  He is survived by his sisters Patty Simberg, Rita (Jack) Molumby and his brother Larry.
Per Ken’s wishes he will be cremated and interred with our parents.  Our brother was an uncomplicated man with a heart of gold.  He was loved and we will miss him.  Per his wishes there will be no memorial observance.  We want to thank those who supported us on this journey.  It is appreciated. 

Perry Caspers was born September 2, 1954 to Donald W. and Druzella (Rekkedahl) Caspers in Olivia, MN.  He died from complications of thrombocytopenia and pancreatic cancer on Saturday, October 9, 2021 at the Crosby Hospital in Crosby, MN.
He was baptized into the Lutheran Faith at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Bird Island, MN on October 17, 1954.  Sponsors were Harvey and Irene Rekkedahl.  He attended Bird Island Public School and graduated from Bird Island High School in 1973.  He went on to graduate from South Dakota State University in 1978 with a degree in Agronomy. 

Helen M.

Janet Marie Pan, 75, of Montgomery, passed away Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, at Mayo Clinic Health System, New Prague. Visitation will be held on Thursday, Oct. 14 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery with Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11:30 a.m. with Father Tom Niehaus officiating. Interment will be held in St. John Catholic Cemetery in Montgomery.

The TCU Tennis Team is wrapping up its season this week with games against Le Sueur-Henderson on Monday and Lakeville on Tuesday.
The last couple of weeks found the girls competing against Sibley East on September 23, Jordan and Albert Lea on September 27, and United South Central on September 28.
The team lost 0-7 against Sibley East. Coach Diane Tiede said her team was outmatched by a very good team.

The three public school districts that span the length of Le Sueur County have seen some positive COVID-19 cases and the quarantining of students and staff since the school year started.
Questionnaires regarding the status of COVID in the school districts were sent to the superintendents of New Prague Area Schools, Tri- City United Schools, and Waterville- Elysian-Morristown Schools last week. Of the three, New Prague reported the highest rate of positive student COVID cases, which accounts for 1.2 percent of the student body.

An audio recording circulated online last week of a Tri-City United Montgomery choir teacher disciplining his class. The recording was secretly recorded by a student and shared on social media and other news outlets.
In the audio, the teacher expresses frustration over some students’ behavior.

Lonsdale residents will see a less than 3.1 percent increase in the city’s tax rate in 2022 compared to no change in 2021.
This comes as the mayor and city council unanimously approved the preliminary budget and property tax levy on September 30.
According to Lonsdale City Administrator Joel Erickson, the tax rate has remained the same the last two years, but needed to increase by 3.09 percent in the coming year. Overall, though, he said that the city’s tax rate has seen a 21.05 percent decrease since 2016.

The boys varsity soccer team saw a lopsided score when it hosted Watertown-Mayer on Tuesday, but their coach said the boys played hard.
“It was a lopsided game on the scoreboard, but not in the amount of effort given. The Titans played with integrity and finished together as a team in a tough 0-13 loss,” said Coach Brett Padfield.

The Montgomery City Council will have an open seat effective December 1 after its members accepted the resignation of Joy Svoboda in a special meeting on Monday.
Mayor Tom Eisert and City Administrator Brian Heck received Svoboda’s resignation on September 21. Heck said she is relocating outside of the city limits and is no longer eligible to serve on the council or the Economic Development Authority.
Svoboda is in the first year of her four-year term, which expires December 31, 2024.

The TCU Volleyball Team held its tournament on Saturday, Oct. 2 and played four schools: Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Glenco-Silver Lake (GSL), Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (LCWM) and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (NRHEG).
The Titans lost to Zumbrota 0-2, and GSL 0-2, but won over NRHEG and LCWM.
TCU Coach Carrie Richards said the wins were in the form of 1-1 ties, but TCU considers it a win because the Titans scored more overall points.

For a day, almost 400 Titans became Ninja Warriors, and their transformation helped raise money for new playground equipment.
April Iverson, Treasurer for the TCU Montgomery Parent Teacher Organization, said for a week and a half, kids raised money from family and friends, and encouraged businesses to sponsor the event.
In all, the kids raised $20,502.
“That’s the most we’ve ever raised. We are so excited,” Iverson said.

Five people were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center Wednesday afternoon, October 6 following a two-vehicle accident in Lonsdale.
According to the Minnesota Highway Patrol, Kylie Maxa, 18, of Montgomery, and Jose Leonardo Herrera-Lara, 19, of Le Center, were taken by air ambulance to HCMC after their vehicle was struck on Highway 19 at 70th Street West shortly after 4 p.m.
Also hospitalized were Sutao Song Mccann, 41, of Farmington, and two female passengers, ages 10 and 12.

Most people in the stands at the Trojans’ homecoming football game could have probably named the quarterback who led the home team to victory.
Even more could have probably named the newly crowned king and queen, but the majority of people in the stands—on both sides of the field—knew the name of a local eighth grader who had been recently diagnosed with cancer.

Ann Marie Segna, age 92, of Montgomery, passed away on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at her Praha Village home in New Prague. Visitation will be held on Monday, October 11 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. all at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery with Father George Grafsky officiating. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery in Montgomery.