I’m going to a wedding! Not mine.
I have eight months to plan for a niece’s wedding, which happens to fall during one of the busiest travel times of the year. The wedding also happens to be in another state. If I drive it’s about 16 to 18 hours. If I fly, there are headaches in the aspect of how much will it cost. Plus there’s also the expenses of getting a hotel room, plus meals and who knows if gas prices will still be up or will have dropped by then. It’s still eight months out, but I’m already wondering how I’m going to go about this.

On Monday, April 4, 2022, Robert Smishek, loving husband, passed away at the age of 78 at St. Gertrude’s Nursing Home in Shakopee, MN. Robert was born on May 29, 1943 to Joseph and Angela (Smisek) Smishek. He graduated from high school in New Prague in 1961. He received his Accounting degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1965, and he had an accounting practice for 25 years in New Prague. He married Ann Odenthal, on June 18, 1966 in Heidelberg  and they raised one daughter, Susan.

Betty Ann (Ewert) Zimanske passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 3, 2022, at Northfield’s Long-Term Care Center, at the age of 86. She was born on March 2, 1936 on the home farm of her parents, August and Mildred (Hanson) Ewert near Buffalo Lake, MN.

Katie Lockrem, age 40 of Prior Lake, passed away on April 3, 2022 at her home while surrounded by her loving family and friends.
A celebration of life service will be held at 1:30PM on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 13801 Fairview Dr, Burnsville, MN 55337. Seating for friends will begin at 1:00PM. Katie’s brother, Scott, will act as her urn bearer and Pastor Sandy Rothschiller will preside. 
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred and will be distributed by Katie’s family to her favorite charities.

Chlan, James T. age 87 of Elko, passed away on March 30, 2022. Preceded in death by wife, Evelyn; son, James Jr.; son-in-law, Todd Kniefel; 2 sisters, and 3 brothers. Survived by children, Jane Kniefel, Bernie, Dan (Tami), Joe (Sheri), and Aggie (Todd) Holliday; daughter-in-law, Donna Chlan; 11 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren; sister, Mary Sirek.

Adeline M Cleasby (Herda) passed away on 3/24/2022, in Winter Park, FL.  Adeline was born to Wenceslaus and Adeline Herda (Tupy) in Lonsdale, MN on 9/3/1928.  Adeline was the oldest of 7 children. She graduated from New Prague High School.  Adeline married Ed Cleasby in 1947. They raised their 5 children in Lonsdale. Adeline was a member of the American Legion Auxillary and served as President. She also worked for Weight Watchers for 25 years. A member of the Red Hat Society. Adeline enjoyed jigsaw puzzles, coloring, playing cards and board games, going to plays, reading and loved her butte

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.

Mary Angela (Thorne) Bisek
 Mary Bisek passed away suddenly March, 25th, 2022.
She was born on September 25, 1942 in Fridley, MN to Lorraine (Teetzel) Gudim. She married Gene Bisek on June 8th, 1985. Mary was a beautiful lady and singer. She often picked up her guitar and sang to family and friends.  She sang mostly country music, but also enjoyed singing gospel. Her favorite gospel song was “The Old Rugged Cross”.

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. 

Winnifred T. “Winnie” Simon, age 75, of New Prague, died Friday night, March 25th, her mother’s birthday, at her home with her family at her side.  Winnie was born on June 4, 1946 at New Prague Community Hospital to Thomas T. and Mary W. (Benes) Franek.  She grew up in the St. Patrick area and attended country school there and graduated from New Prague High School.  She married Dennis L. Simon on November 25, 1967, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, where they were the first to christen the new social hall with their wedding reception.  They lived first in St.

Dr. Richard D. Olson, age 87, of New Prague, died peacefully with his family at his side on Thursday, March 24, 2022, at Lakeview Memorial Hospital in Stillwater.  Richard was born on April 21, 1934, in Minneapolis to Emil and Helen (Brackett) Olson.  He grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Washburn High School.

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.

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.

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.

Kevin Crawford who owned and operated Crawford’s Standard Services, 126 Main St. E, in New Prague for 40 years is retiring and closed the auto repair business on Friday, March 25. Crawford’s two employees will be going to work for his son Nick Crawford who, with Ronnie Bastyr, recently bought New Prague Auto Repair on the town’s west side. From left are Alex Palma, Kevin Crawford, Wes Bennett and Nick Crawford. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

New Prague High School for its spring play will perform the classic production “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. Show times are Friday, March 25, and Saturday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the high school auditorium, 221 12th St. NE.