In an announcement Tuesday on the Montgomery Torchlight Parade and Firework's social media page, organizers stated the Holidazzle-like event will be canceled in 2020. They said it is due to "the pandemic restrictions by our state government."
"We would like to thank everyone for your support of this event. Unfortunately after careful consideration due to the pandemic restrictions by our state government we have no choice but to cancel the parade and fireworks for 2020" the post stated.

Helen Ann (Zelenka) Borg, of Montgomery passed away on October 1, at the age of 77, the victim of COVID-19.
Helen was born November 4, 1942, the daughter of Jim and Emma Zelenka.
She graduated from Montgomery High School in 1960 and graduated from nurses training through Swedish Hospital in 1962. Her nursing career included work at Abbott Hospital, Fairview Hospital, a hospital in San Diego, and more than 12 years at Group Health in Bloomington.

The “Fall Colors Cruise” rolls out of Henderson the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 3. Approximately 200 classic vehicles were participating in the 70 mile cruise that traveled through St. Thomas, Le Center, around Le Sueur County lakes to the Ottawa Road into Le Sueur and back to Henderson. The Henderson Classic Car Roll-In Committee hosted the cruise. Donations were also taken for the local food shelf that collected an estimated couple hundred pounds of food. For more seen upcoming issues of The New Prague Times, the Montgomery Messenger. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

The remainder of the Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) activities calendar came into view Thursday, Oct. 1 during the Board of Directors meeting.
  After a presentation by the League’s Return to Participation Task Force, the Board of Directors approved a maximized winter activities season that trims 30 percent of the contest dates. By keeping the length of seasons generally intact, member schools will have the flexibility for rescheduling if contests are postponed because of COVID-19 related outbreaks or other interruptions.

Montgomery Ambulance service is 50 years old.
October 1, 2020, marks a half century of the city-owned service providing care to the local area.
Prior to the creation of the ambulance service, the Schoenbauer Funeral Home provided transportation and care to individuals during emergency situations. However, the state decided this was a conflict of interest.
At the same time, state and federal governments started a program to get ambulances into rural areas. Funding from this program helped created the Montgomery Ambulance service.

The TCU Boys Soccer Team vindicated a loss to Schaefer a week ago by earning their first victory with a 4-1 score in Montgomery. They had lost to Schaefer 6-1 in the first meeting on September 11, following a hard game against Jordan the night before.
“Clearly that had an effect on them as in the second meeting TCU dominated the midfield the whole game and had a very balanced attack,” according to TCU coach Carey Langer. “The game was never in question after TCU scored the first goal.”

Lonsdale area residents came out the evening of Friday, Sept. 25, to support its local police department and the Rice County Sheriff’s Office. The Lonsdale Knights of Columbus hosted the event held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church with the staff of the Lonsdale Police Department honored for their work in the community. The....
To see more on this story pick up the Ocotber 1, 2020 print edition of The New Prague Times.

The Office of the Le Sueur County Election Administrator announced on Friday that absentee ballots are now available to the public for the General Election (November 3, 2020).
Voters are strongly encouraged to apply online for an absentee ballot.
Online absentee ballot applications are currently available on the Minnesota Secretary of State website or Le Sueur County website.

Edward J. Gaughan, age 86, of Montgomery, MN passed away Sunday, September 27, 2020, at Mill City Senior Living in Faribault.
Edward James was born on April 26, 1934, in St. Paul, MN to Harold and Mary (Hodnett) Gaughan. He graduated from Monroe High School in St. Paul. Edward served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany.

Julia M. Odenthal, age 76, of Le Center, died suddenly, in her daughter’s arms on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.  Julia was born on November 29, 1943 in Elko, Minnesota to Frank and Julia (Horejsi) Peterka.  Julia married the love of her life, Cornelius T. Odenthal on August 8, 1964 at St.

Roman A. Malecha passed away on September 18, 2020, at the age of 80. He was preceded in death by Parents, Albert G and Ludmilla (Havel) Malecha; first wife, Darlene Malecha; brothers and sisters, Lillian Tupy, Helen Novak, Albert, Stanley, Joe, Robert and George Malecha.  
Roman was a man of deep faith who dedicated his life to his family, church, friends and community. Roman attended Bethlehem Academy and Seminary school intending to be a priest, until he met Darlene Horejsi at a wedding dance and decided to take a new path in life. 

On Monday, the Minnesota State High School League board of directors voted to reinstate both the fall football and volleyball seasons this fall.
The decisions came after the league surveyed nearly 400 member schools, most of which wanted to have the seasons played out in the fall rather than a spring “flex season.”
Last month, the league postponed the football and volleyball seasons to spring due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The league reconsidered the decision after hearing from athletes and families.

St. Patrick won three games this past weekend before dropping their final game of the Class C State Tournament Monday, Sept. 7.
The Irish had their best finish in team history, finishing second in the tournament, losing only one game to Fairmont, 12-0 in seven innings at Springfield.
Union Hill also advanced to the final weekend of play, but were defeated by Young America, 6-0 Saturday, Sept. 5.
Here is a look at the St. Patrick and Union Hill games, courtesy of mnbaseball.org.
Young America 6, Union Hill 0

Since moving to a new location earlier this year, the farmers market in Lonsdale has seen an increase in business.
“We’ve gotten a lot more traffic compared to last year,” said Cakes by Brenda owner Brenda Hergenroder.
Hergenroder, who is in her first year as organizer of the farmers market, said that last year the market was held in the Lonsdale American Legion parking lot.
When the former organizer and the American Legion decided not to continue the market this year, Hergenroder stepped in to see that Lonsdale continued to have a market.

The 2020 Be-A-Mazed Corn Maze at the Montgomery Orchard celebrates one of nature’s most enduring stories - the Sandhill Crane!
Scott Wardell said the maze design and condition combine to make the best experience for visitors.
“Visitors will be able to enjoy a maze design that makes its way through six acres of adventure,” Wardell explained. “There are 10 trivia stops focused on facts about the sandhill crane throughout the maze, which has extra wide aisles this year to allow guest to pass without getting to close to each other.”

The TCU Tennis Team lost their first couple of matches of the season, but battled hard to win two games each in their contests against United South Central (USC) and Southwest Christian (SWC).
In the game against USC in Le Center last Thursday, the Titans lost their match 5-2, but Coach Phil Murry said the Titans played well and battled hard for their wins.