Montgomery’s 92nd Kolacky Day’s Grand Day Parade will commence at noon on Sunday, July 26, with about 100 units. This is down slightly from last year’s 110 units.
The parade will start at Vine Avenue West and 3rd Street Northwest at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, travel south to Oak Avenue Southwest where it will go east two blocks by the Montgomery Public Library to go north on 1st Street South until it meets up with Boulevard Avenue Northwest to travel one block west, terminating at the city’s public works lot.
The Kolacky Days royalty has been crowned for the 92nd annual festival.
Friday's pageant at Tri-City United High School's performing arts center gave way to the next set of representatives of the city of Montgomery. Allison Rynda was chosen as the 2026 Kolacky Days Queen, Aubrie Barnett as 1st Princess, Raena Wiess as 2nd Princess, and Aubrey Flicek as Miss Congeniality.
Kolacky Days in Montgomery being one of the longer running festivals has instituted two opportunities for youth to help continue the tradition.
This year’s six Kolacky Queen candidates brought six Little Sisters to the table: Ella Shimota, daughter of Kara Shimota; Hattie Birdsell, daughter of Jason and Hilary Birdsell; Mya Goettl, daughter of Steve and Melissa Goettl; Sylvie Prochaska, daughter of Tyler and Sarah Prochaska; Charlotte Norgren, daughter of Paul and Catherine Norgren; and Sawyer Stasney, daughter of Pete and Colleen Stasney.
This is your comprehensive list of Kolacky Days eats! Look for the new vendor and/or food choices that are indicated in blue.
The Royal Table Dinner at the Revival on Main, with current candidates and 2025 royalty, gets a menu overall to a pulled pork sandwich. While you won’t be able to get that fix of a “Czech Happy Meal” with the pork loin, the Miss Czech-Slovak Minnesota Pageant has what is arguably even better in Memorial Park with their “Czech Meal Deal,” substituting pork loin for jiternice or a polish sausage instead.
While many people may have an idea that Kolacky Days is one of the oldest Minnesota festivals around, does anyone really know?
This question set forward an adventure to try and find the answer to both how old is the oldest festival in Minnesota and where does Kolacky Days actually lie on that spectrum. This then put forth further question of where does it lie on the spectrum of kolacky and Czech heritage-related festival in the United States.
Kids from around the area gathered at Tri-City United PreK-8 Montgomery and Le Center schools last Thursday, July 16, for a quick lesson in science and theories on dinosaurs from Jason Lindsey.
Montgomery City Council approved the purchase and construction of a new playground on Monday to replace the aging one in Memorial Park. The playground is over 20 years old and is rusting with some parts not functional, such as a slide that was boarded up and removed last year because it was not safe.
The budget that was set forth for the new playground was $275,000 from the park improvement fund, and the city had applied for a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Recreation Grant, but was unsuccessful in receiving the grant to reduce the city’s burden.
SAIL Fitness Class
Catholic Charities for Southern Minnesota’s Stay Active for Independent Living (SAIL) fitness class for ages 55+. M&Th, 9-10 a.m., except holidays, at Center Stage Dance in Montgomery. No registration, just show up. Free.
Through Sept. 19 — Genealogy & Research Center
The Le Sueur County Historical Society Genealogy and Research Center, 301 NE 2nd St, Elysian, is open F/SA, 1-4 p.m., through Sept. 19.
We often hear about history of the early settlers of this area, the Big Woods region, referring to our European ancestors that moved into the area in the 1800’s to start farmsteads and businesses in what was thought to be open wilderness.
Those early settlers infiltrated Native American lands though, changing the landscape and dialog about history forever — often omitting or minimizing that we had occupied and taken lands where these natives resided.
Last Thursday’s Montgomery Farmer’s Market in Memorial Park was a special combination of elements.
The market featured four tractors from the Krocak family brought in by four teenagers — Nathan Akerlund, Hunter Tuma, Logan Krocak and Noah Fields. Liz Krocak said, “Some kids have never even seen a tractor or been out to a farm. This is a fun way for them to see a little bit about what it is about.”
Summer blood donations far lower than needed as hospitals work to protect patient care, according to the American Red Cross.
The American Red Cross is declaring an emergency blood shortage as the blood supply fell nearly 25% in June. Blood donors are urgently needed to give now to help ensure patients receive lifesaving medical care without delay. The shortage is especially serious for platelets and types O-positive and B-negative blood.
Tri-City United High School will be losing a few excellent clay target shooters going into next season after competing at the USA Clay Target League’s 2026 National Championship in Mason, Mich., July 8-12. A total of 1,800 shooters between individual and teams participated at the event.
The TCU squad — consisting of Levi Hohrman, Martin Bongers, Jacob Jones, Dylan Carston, and Branko Schoenbauer — ended up placing 26th out of the 234 teams at nationals.
Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) has completed its case in the Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, early morning death of 58-year-old Jose Luis Alvarado at Seneca Foods Corporation in Montgomery.
Only a select individuals can say they competed for their state team representing Minnesota in the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games held in Minneapolis from June 19-26, and Montgomery’s Phillip Weber is one of them.
Weber, 2009 Tri-City United High School graduate, was made aware that he was chosen to be a part of Minnesota’s 16-person swimming team during an announcement on YouTube by Special Olympics Minnesota about a year ago. He is one of 245 athletes chosen across the state to represent Minnesota.
Tri-City United Schools teamed up with Let’s Smile, Inc. again this past school year to provide $14,002.00 in no-cost dental work for kids enrolled in the school district, according to TCU Community Education Director Layne Wilbright. It’s a partnership that started in the spring of 2024, and there is no cost to the school as well as families.