Tri-City United High School’s one act thespians’ season didn’t pan out quite what they wanted to, but it was a great show none-the-less by the students.
Students competed at the 2A sub-section one act competition on Saturday, Jan. 24, at the school’s performing arts center. This coming after their Thursday, Jan. 22, public performance was postponed until Thursday, Jan. 29, due to cold temperatures. Temperatures that evening and the following day dipped to around 20 degrees below zero.
Eleven bowlers from Tri-City United Schools competed in Mankato for the Minnesota Special Olympics State Bowling Tournament Nov. 22-23, 2025. It was one of eight sites containing a total of 792 volunteers and 4,106 athletes.
The TCU competitors had been playing and practicing since the end of September as a part of the TCU Titan Special Olympics Program that practiced at Pla Mor Lanes in Montgomery.
A small number of Tri-City United (TCU) wrestlers competed at The takedown on 22 Wrestling Tournament Saturday, Jan. 31. Those who wrestled did quite well.
Five different Titans claimed top five finishes, led by Trista Gessler who won a championship.
Gessler placed first in the girls 112-pound weight division. Gage Factor placed second in the 139-pound weight class. Tucker Skluzacek placed 2nd in the 145-pound weight class. Griffin Lemieux placed 3rd in the 127-pound weight class. Owen Delander placed 5th in the 121-pound weight class.
With the increased spotlight on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) presence in Minnesota, it seemed pertinent to see how our local community is responding to it and what presence of the taxpayer activities has been locally.
TCU Schools
Republicans and Democrats in Le Sueur, and Rice counties interested in participating in the early stages of the process of selecting their respective party’s candidates and platforms at upcoming precinct caucuses can do so on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. at various locations.
Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School (MHRCS) middle school teacher Jennifer Floyd of Lonsdale was awarded the Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year for grades 6-8 for Minnesota.
Floyd is the fourth winner sponsored by the Montgomery VFW Post 5340. Prior winners included Heide Veazie, Christine Trcka, and Michael Bass-Smith.
She teaches language arts for 7th-8th grade, Spanish for grades 3rd-8th, and art for all of the middle school at MHRCS where this is her second year there and 35th year as a teacher.
Tri-City United High School one act play director Elise Lundeen announced that due to the extreme cold weather, The Last Fire Fly public performance scheduled for tonight, Thursday, Jan. 22, will be postponed until sometime next week with details to be announced later.
Students will still be participating in Section 2A Subsection One Act Play competition this Saturday though at TCU High School in the performing arts center.
Former Tri-City United and Montgomery-Lonsdale Schools FFA advisor Barry Schmidt was inducted into the Minnesota FFA’s 2026 Hall of Fame. He joins seven others inducted for 2026.
Tri-City United High School thespians are almost ready to show you their latest one act masterpiece, “The Last Firefly” by Naomi Iizuka.
It’s the story of “Boom,” who is the son of “Thunder,” and goes out to search for his father that left him and his mother “Kuroko.” It’s a mythical story that uses Japanese music and a style of puppetry.
The story was first commissioned and produced by Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis in 2016. TCU students are now putting their own spin on the tale.
Tri-City United High School was host to the Big South Conference Championship last Thursday, Jan. 8. Six other teams from the conference convened at Montgomery competing in both jazz and kick.
TCU dancers ended up in the middle of the pack for both jazz and kick, and for junior varsity jazz as well.
Head Coach Katey Weiss said, “All three of our dances were our best performances and scores to date. We work every week to improve our routines. I'm very happy with how we finished.”
When Tri-City United (TCU) senior Ella Schmiesing grabbed her 1,000th career rebound Tuesday, Dec. 30 at Waterville, she became one of the select few in state history to have both 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
The St. Catherine basketball commit is one of only 267 players in Minnesota history to record the milestone.
As a freshman Schmiesing played in all 26 games, recording 219 rebounds in 610 minutes of action.
Tri-City United High School Assistant Principal David Reuhs was surprised when he walked into the school's media center on Monday, Jan. 5, for what he thought was a staff meeting.
Ruehs was met by the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) Executive Director Bob Driver, his family, much of the staff of the school, and media, where he was presented the honor of being the chosen the 2026 Minnesota High School Assistant Principal of the Year award.
He will be put up against others across the nation in April for the national award.
The Tri-City United School District School Board voted on Monday, Dec. 22, to ask voters in the district again to pass the same $39.99 million bond that was proposed at the November 2025 single vote election. In November, the tax base that showed up to vote voted 926 in approval and 1,088 in opposition.
The message of the evening was clear from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR) Tuesday, Dec. 18, at the Montgomery American Legion, aeration systems are rather ineffective at providing meaningful oxygen to most bodies of water and are a source of danger to the public.
About 100 Wheatland Twin Lakes Sportsmans Club (WTLSC) members and the general public gathered to see, hear, and ask questions about what the MnDNR had to present about Cody Lake and the possibility of reinstating an aeration system there.
History of aeration at Cody Lake
Saturday’s home weightlifting duo with the Burnsville Blaze yielded three individuals qualifying for state and slug of first place finishes.
Morgan Meier qualified for varsity state competition with an automatic qualifying total (AQT) greater than 95 KG of 100 KG in the varsity girls’s 58 KG category.
Lonsdale was the centerpoint of Christmas-related activity this past Saturday.
Triumphant Life Church held an ornament-making activity in the afternoon. Next door, the Lonsdale American Legion hosted kids bingo. Down the street, Something For All held their outdoors Who-Ville event for all to meet The Grinch.