Minnesota has new Czech Slovak ambassadors when the royalty was crowned at the annual Miss Czech Slovak MN Pageant at the American Legion Post 79 in Montgomery on Saturday. The new royalty is pictured with the night’s Czech Helpers. 

Pictured are: Czech Helpers Melanie Le Brun, Miss Congeniality and Second Princess Michelle Vlasak, Queen Heather Vikla, Czech Helper Hayden Dietz, First Princess Mary Carson and Czech Helper Alenka Jans. The royalty was crowned after interviews, parent introductions, and talent and kroj competition. 

Scott Pearson and LaRae Gast are the new owners of Wayside Liquor in Montgomery. 
 
The partners in life and business purchased the liquor store on Monday, April 16, from Chuck Way and Tina Way of Montgomery and Al and Carleen Sevcik of Lonsdale, who opened the business in May 2005. 
 

Bruce Stasney is passionate about conservation.
 
He learned the importance of preserving, protecting and restoring the natural environment for the earth’s wildlife when he was a young man growing up on a farm outside of Montgomery.
 
The son of John and Rita Stasney loves to hunt and be outside. He remembers the moment in his youth when the importance of conservation took hold in his heart. 
 

What does it mean to be a person of color in a community that is predominantly white? What is it like to be white here in Montgomery? What can the community you live in do about disparities surrounding race relations and equality?
 
These are just a few of the hard-hitting questions posed upon attendees at the “It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race” held Monday at Tri-City United High School.
“This is really an interesting and exciting event for me personally and professionally,” said Mark Preissing of the event.

Montgomery’s Arts and Heritage Center’s Heritage Breakfast on Sunday, April 15 at Hilltop Hall has been postponed due to the winter storm conditions. 
 
It has been moved to April 22, starting at 8 a.m. A special program featuring honoring the Don Rynda family will start at 10:30 a.m. Kathy Peterson of the Arts and Heritage Center said she hope neighbors can come next week to honor Don and his contributions to the community.

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Because of the severity of the winter storm, the Miss Czech Slovak MN Pageant has been moved to Saturday,  April 21. The location and times will remain the same. It will be held at the Montgomery American Legion Club. A public reception and dinner will be held prior to the 7 p.m. pageant. 
 
Pageant contestants include: Mary Carson, daughter of John and Rosalind Carson, Heather Vikla, daughter of David and Kelly Vikla, and Michelle Vlasak, daughter of Ed and Debbie Vlasak. 
 

Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS) is pushing back in the lawsuit brought by members who are asking for access to its documents and a “democratic” board election.
 
The response from LCHS was filed in Le Sueur County District Court on March 28 in response to a lawsuit from 16 members who allege the existing board of LCHS has mismanaged the society, has murky financial dealings, and has held anti-democratic processes, which, they state are contrary to Minnesota law and LCHS bylaws. In a filing on February 21, the citizens asked for a judge to intervene.
 

Students in the Tri-City United School District will make up one of their snow days by attending an extra day of school on Friday, June 1. 

The decision came at Monday’s Tri-City United School Board meeting.   

Czech was Don Rynda’s first language.
His grandparents made sure of it.
“When I was little and my parents would be out working on the farm, my grandparents would care for me. They spoke Czech to me. It was important to them that the language was not forgotten… It wasn’t until I started country school—first grade—that I learned English,” explained Rynda. “I’m 85 now, and I can still speak it (Czech). I have my grandparents to thank for that.”

Imagine browsing through the Enchanted Depot to find customized magical solutions to all problems. Such is the world of TCU’s “Haphazardly Ever After,” that runs Friday and Saturday, April 6 and 7 at the Montgomery Middle School Auditorium. Performances are at 7 p.m. each night.

The Montgomery National Golf Club will swing into spring under new ownership. Greg McKush of Prior Lake has purchased the 18-hole golf course from the Morgan family and is looking forward to greeting golfers when the weather warms. 
 
"I like to be the first course open," stated McKush, who started working at golf courses at a young age. 

Members of Most Holy Redeemer School presented the “Living Stations” last week on Wednesday in the lead up to Easter Sunday on April 1.
The Stations of the Cross retrace the final journey of Jesus Christ to Calvary. They have been prayed for centuries, allowing Christians who are unable to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to spiritually follow in the steps that Jesus took from his arrest and judgment to his crucifixion, death, and burial.

We are in the process of launching our newly-designed website this weekend for the New Prague Times, Montgomery Messenger, Waterville Lake Region Life and Elysian Enterprise. We hope you like the new look, new functions, new design, including the new mobile versions. We apologize if there are any hiccups along the way.

Every Monday morning at 9 a.m., a group, known as "The Sisterhood of Bag Ladies," meets at the Montgomery American Legion to turn plastic bags into mats for homeless people. The group has produced and distributed 360 six-foot by 2-1/2-foot bed rolls since July 2016, and now they need your help (especially if you crochet).

Not a single tag was left hanging on the Montgomery Sharing Tree this year, which means local donors helped spread a lot of Christmas cheer! More than 100 people in the community received gifts from anonymous donors through the community’s Sharing Tree tradition this year, explained Karen Hiscox of Aging Services for Communities, who runs the program with help from Happy Hour Bar owner Eileen Segna. Gift recipients this year were located at Golden Years Home, Traditions, Park Manor, Sunrise Farms, Central Health Care, and Alee Services.

The Le Sueur County Historical Society is scheduled to hold a special meeting of the membership on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 1 p.m. However, if you are interested in getting information about becoming a member or attending the meeting and are not a member, you won’t be allowed in. The meeting is in response to a member-signed petition that was presented to President Jenifer Morsching after the organization’s turbulent October 7 annual meeting where a Le Sueur County Deputy Sheriff was called to maintain order.