One area crossing of the Minnesota River has been closed and two others are expected to close in the near future. 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed Highway 19 from Highway 169 to Henderson due to flooding of the Minnesota River. The announcement was made at 4:25 a.m. Thursday. 

Motorists should seek alternate routes, as the road will remain closed until the water level recedes. 

The New Prague Trojan adapted softball team split a pair of games last week, defeating South Suburban and losing to Burnsville/Farmington/ Lakeville. The team, which includes players from Tri-City United, Belle Plaine and Jordan schools, is 2-3 on the season.
The Trojans’ Wednesday, April 25, game against St. Paul Humboldt has been cancelled. The team will play at Dakota United, at Eastview High school, on Monday, April 30, and face Chanhassen/Chaska/Prior Lake/Shakopee on Wednesday, May 2, at Prior Lake High School.

As expected, all Dakota- Rice-Scott League baseball games scheduled for opening day, Sunday, April 22, were postponed due to field conditions.
Sunday was a beautiful day, with temperatures reaching 60 degrees, but the 12 inches or more of snow from the previous week left fields in the area unplayable.

Catherine Herrmann of Montgomery was named a Volunteer of the Year at the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women's 86th annual convention last weekend, April 20 thru 21, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Stillwater. 

Schmiesing, Frederick Henry William Jr., age 75.
 8/21/42-4/20/18
Husband, Father, Teacher, Coach, Humanitarian
Graduated from Walnut Grove High School, Walnut Grove, MN, and Hamline University, St. Paul, MN.  Taught and coached at Tartan HS and No. St. Paul.
Preceded in death by his parents Fred & Lorraine Schmiesing.

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. 

The 2018 Dakota-Rice- Scott League baseball season is scheduled to begin play this weekend, though Mother Nature appears to have different ideas.
Six games were originally scheduled to be played Sunday, five league games and a non-league game. Three of those games have been postponed due to the prolonged winter weather. Announcements have yet to be made on the other three, but it is expected most fields will not be ready after the record-breaking mid-April snowfall.

The New Prague Adapted Softball team earned its first win of the season Wednesday, April 11, defeating Minneapolis 13-5. On Monday, April 16, the team lost to South Washington County 15-0.
The team, which also includes players from Tri-City United, Belle Plaine and Jordan schools, has a 1-2 record. They were scheduled to host South Suburban Wednesday, April 18. They play at Burnsville/Farmington /Lakeville Monday, April 23, and host St. Paul Humboldt Wednesday, April 25.

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. 
 

While all the other spring Montgomery Messanger Montgomery Messanger Sports were struggling to practice and reschedule events due to the weather, the New Prague Adapted Softball team opened its 2018 schedule Monday, April 9, indoors at the Central Education Campus gym, hosting the Southern Stars of Chanhassen/Chaska/Prior Lake/Shakopee. The Trojans lost the game 16-4.

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.
 

My wife is into scrapbooking.
 
Scrapbookers have stuff. A lot of stuff.  If you are the husband of a scrapbooker, you will know what I am talking about. 
 
My wife has carts and totes of different kinds of paper, trinkets, embellishments, and empty binders just ready for the filling with (I admit) beautifully-designed pages. 
 
This is her hobby, and I am happy with it because if it were left up to me, our memories would be crammed into photo books, you know the way people scrapbooked a generation ago.