St. Patrick, Faribault, and Montgomery are on the upswing in the DRS Amateur Baseball standings. Prior Lake is heading the other way.
The Irish lead the league by three games with a 14-3 record after downing Prior Lake, 7-6, in 11 innings Sunday, July 11. The loss was one of three this past week by the Lakers.
Faribault is 4-1 in their past five games and have climbed into third place with an 11-6 record. Union Hill is in second place with a 10-5 record.

A community garden is taking root at the foot of Montgomery’s water tower takes to a group of ambitious Girls Scouts who are working to earn their Silver Award.
“We wanted to do a more long-lasting project for the community, and we thought there should be a community garden, so we decided to make it happen,” explained 14-year-old local Girl Scout Tahlia Buckingham.

The Credit River Antique Tractor Club held its 1 p.m. parade on Friday, July 16, at Cedar Lake Farm Regional Park. Around 40 tractors took part in the parade that was part of the 22nd annual show, which continues at the park north of New Prague on Saturday, July 17, and Sunday, July 18. Tractor parades will also be held at 1 p.m. those days with antique vehicles and engines on display, plus activities around the park and food vendors. The show is held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and offers free admission and parking. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times.

Beginning at 4 a.m. on Thursday, July 15, the intersection of Main Street and Highway 21, on the west side of New Prague, is scheduled to be closed for one day for mill and overlay work. The work will begin at the intersection and go west on Highway 19 to the intersection with Fifth Avenue NW/SW. There will be several detours around the closed intersection. Northbound vehicles on Highway 21 can take the turnoff right before the intersection to get onto Main Street. Drivers can then go north on Second Avenue NW, then west onto Second Street NW and reconnect to Highway 21.

Rodney Joseph Soukup, 82, passed away at home on June 23, after a 10-month-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Born in Faribault, Minnesota, on March 9, 1939, Rod grew up in Montgomery, Minnesota, and received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

This weekend Generations Theatre Company will present Shrek Jr., a production that was all set to go in 2020, but was cancelled on its opening night due to COVID- 19 restrictions. There are three shows that will be performed at the New Prague High School auditorium, 221 12th St. NE. The first is 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 9, the next two are at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 10. Cost is a donation to Generation Theatre Company’s scholarship fund.

The Tri-Legion Baseball Team’s bats have been swinging over the past week. The team played Waterville on June 25, Le Sueur on June 28, and Kenyon-Wanamingo on June 29.
On June 25, the team beat the Waterville Legion Team by a 2-0 score. The Tri-Legion team put its first point on the board in the second inning when Dylan Hollum scored off a Chris Johnson hit.
In the sixth inning, Jayson Macho doubled, and was batted home by Johnson.
“That was a great, great game,” said Coach Tim Moravec. “The kids played really well.”

Le Sueur County’s new Public Health Director Megan Kirby hit the ground running April 26th when she officially stepped into the position.
“I was fortunate enough to have multiple weeks with our previous director, Cindy Shaughnessy, to train and learn the role a little more in depth,” stated Kirby, who has a background working in community health along with a Master's Degree in Public Health, a Bachelor's Degree in Community Health Education, and an Associate's Degree in Psychology.

Ralph G. Hendrickson, age 82 of Kilkenny, MN, died at his home on Thursday morning, July 1, 2021.  Visitation will be held on Saturday, July 17 from 9am to 11am at St. John Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Memorial services will be at 11am all at St. John Lutheran Church in Montgomery.  Interment will be held at St. John Lutheran Cemetery in Montgomery. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to St. John Church Steeple repair or Le Sueur County Relay for Life (American Cancer Society).

The last couple of months have been like a breath of fresh air.
Life after the pandemic seems like it’s getting back to normal. We have had some events with face-maskless (is that a word?) people and more are coming up!

Amateur baseball doesn’t see a ton of home runs.
Very few hitters hit more than one, or possibly two in a game.
Union Hill shortstop Nathan Berg put on a power hitting show which probably has not been seen in many, many years.
Berg struck out in his first at bat Wednesday, June 30 against New Market. He then proceeded to hit home runs in four of his next five at bats, including a solo home run which provided the Bulldogs with the winning run.
To make Berg’s game even better, he closed out the contest in the bottom off the 10th, picking up the save in a 7-6 win.

Motorists should plan for the Intersection of Highways 19 and 21  (Main Street & 4th Avenue NW) on the west side of New Prague being closed to thru traffic Thursday, July 15 – Friday, July 16 during scheduled milling and resurfacing work.  Although this schedule could be adjusted based on weather conditions, through traffic should follow any temporary detours.
 The current detour for the reconstruction project in downtown New Prague is expected to stay in place until the project completion, scheduled for this October. 

A man was found dead in a Le Center home Tuesday morning, July 6, following a 10-hour long standoff with law enforcement.
The man, who has been identified as 38-year-old Michael Lee Elie of Le Center, died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
According to a press release issued by the Le Sueur County’s Sheriff Office, law enforcement officers responded to a residence in the 300 block of South Cordova Avenue in Le Center for a reported domestic assault at 9:19 p.m. Monday night.

The Lonsdale Chamber of Commerce and the Lonsdale Community Days Committee announced on Wednesday, June 23 that Daryl Rieck has been chosen as the 2021 Lonsdale Grand Marshal.
According to a press release, Rieck has been an integral part of the community for more than 35 years. It listed Rieck’s commitment to Londale being the American Legion Commander, instructor for AARP Defensive Course Classes, member of the Veteran's Memorial Task Force, Memorial Day Service Organizer, and volunteer who always helps with BINGO on Saturday evenings at the Legion.

According to information from the Rice County Sheriff’s office, Sergeant Justin Timothy Hunt, age 40, of Faribault died in his sleep while on vacation with his family. His obituary states he passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, June 23 in Arthur, WI, following a sudden illness.

The Montgomery Community Foundation (MCF) supported two local projects that are building a stronger community when it awarded two grants totally $1,800 on Friday night.
The first recipient was $800 to the local Girl Scouts for their Community Silver Garden project. The second was $1,000 to the Memorial Park Log Cabin Restoration Project.