The history of two restored buildings in the Montgomery Commercial Historic District came to life on Thursday, Oct. 28 at the Montgomery Historical Society Show & Tell program.
After a social hour, Roger Heyda and Julie Bifano presented the history of the Rustic Farmer and Revival on Main (209 and 213 1st Street South) to a group of more than two dozen people. Starting in the Rustic Farmer, Heyda gave a history of who owned the business in the building and what was sold in the space back in the day. A saloon, general store, and Heyda’s hardware store were some of them.

The City Council will interview three residents later this month, who submitted interest forms, to fill a seat on the council that will be left by Joy Svoboda on December 1.
Svoboda is moving outside the city limits and will no longer be eligible to serve on the the council or Economic Development Authority.
The letters of interest came from Mark Arendt, Dennis Smith, and Dennis Lambrecht, who served on the council until Svoboda won his seat in the 2020 election.
The candidates names were released during a city council work session on Monday, Nov. 1.

Two Halloween events are planned for Montgomery and Lonsdale on Friday, Oct. 29.
In Montgomery, the Goblin Drive-thru will be held again at Memorial Park. The Drive-thru trick or treating will happen from 4 to 6 p.m. People should enter Park Street on the west side of the park.
The event is sponsored by the Montgomery Knights of Columbus, Most Holy Redeemer School and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 79.

Area lakes aren't iced over yet, but Boy Scouts are already making sure people who ice fish will be safe this winter.
Earlier this month, some Scouts from Troop #322 restored and fixed the “Thin Ice” signs that are used on Greenleaf Lake, south of Montgomery, when its aeration system is running.
The Scouts’ project helped the Montgomery Sportsman’s Club members who operate the aeration system during the winter. Jon Trnka is a Scout parent and Sportsman Club member. He said the signs needed some repair.

Thomas Hoppert takes Halloween to the next level.
For years, he has dressed up in elaborate homemade costumes for what he calls his favorite holiday. His previous creations include the Yip Yip Martians from Sesame Street, Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth, and Captain Obvious!
However, this year’s costumes are his most elaborate, and time-consuming.

New changes are coming to how people make phone calls as mandatory 10-digit dialing starts on Sunday, Oct. 24. The Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) July 2020 Order required all telecommunications carriers, to make any network changes necessary to ensure that users can dial 988 to reach the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) by July 16, 2022.

Workers from Barnett Bros. Inc. began the teardown of the building on 100 First Street N on Monday, Oct. 11 and finished Tuesday, Oct. 19. The abandoned property, which was owned by Bob Taraba, was deemed hazardous last year by the City of Montgomery. A Le Sueur County judge ruled in favor of the city’s assessment of the building this summer. After Taraba did not comply with the judge’s order to raze the building by July 31, it became the city’s property. Barnett Bros. Inc. demolished and removed it for $49,400, which are part of the city’s estimated costs of $72,000.

The Montgomery Area Community Club (MACC) announces that it is seeking designs for the 88th annual Kolacky Days button.
“We are looking for designs from any one of any age who feels creative,” said MACC President Tom Washa. “The winning design will appear on the collectible souvenir button and may appear on select advertising. The winner will receive $100 Monty Bucks, a Kolacky Days T-Shirt, an oversized Collectible Kolacky Days Button, two Kolacky Days buttons, media coverage, and see his/her design all over the Kolacky city!”

Titan volleyball fans and players traded their school colors of Columbia blue, silver and black for pink on Tuesday, Oct. 5, marking the school’s annual Dig Pink Night.
The event is an annual fundraiser organized by the TCU Volleyball Booster Club that fills the high school gymnasium in support of a cancer survivor. According to Washa Kes, of the Volleyball Booster Club, $3,000 was raised for breast cancer survivor Lucinda (Tulloch) Rose of Montgomery.
“The night was a huge success. It was amazing to see all the fans there to support TCU Volleyball and Lucinda,” Kes said.

LCHS Goals: Elysian Museum, technology updates, artifact inventory
Le Sueur County Historical Society (LCHS) has been busy.
The society, which aims to collect, preserve, and tell the story of Le Sueur County, will be holding its October meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 19 in New Prague at the New Prague Public Library. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. CDC guidelines are followed.

Kids dressed in winter clothes, sitting on a colored brick wall, pointing to fireworks make up this year’s official button for the annual Torchlight Parade and Fireworks celebration.
Out of hundreds of entries from TCU Schools and Most Holy Redeemer, Wendoli Castaneda-Gonzalez, a fifth grader at TCU Montgomery Elementary and Middle School, created the winning design. Castaneda-Gonzalez (center) and her classmates learned of the news on Thursday during school by Torchlight committee member Neaner Kriha, who also treated the class to a pizza lunch from Pizzeria201.

Lonsdale residents will see a less than 3.1 percent increase in the city’s tax rate in 2022 compared to no change in 2021.
This comes as the mayor and city council unanimously approved the preliminary budget and property tax levy on September 30.
According to Lonsdale City Administrator Joel Erickson, the tax rate has remained the same the last two years, but needed to increase by 3.09 percent in the coming year. Overall, though, he said that the city’s tax rate has seen a 21.05 percent decrease since 2016.

The Montgomery City Council will have an open seat effective December 1 after its members accepted the resignation of Joy Svoboda in a special meeting on Monday.
Mayor Tom Eisert and City Administrator Brian Heck received Svoboda’s resignation on September 21. Heck said she is relocating outside of the city limits and is no longer eligible to serve on the council or the Economic Development Authority.
Svoboda is in the first year of her four-year term, which expires December 31, 2024.

For a day, almost 400 Titans became Ninja Warriors, and their transformation helped raise money for new playground equipment.
April Iverson, Treasurer for the TCU Montgomery Parent Teacher Organization, said for a week and a half, kids raised money from family and friends, and encouraged businesses to sponsor the event.
In all, the kids raised $20,502.
“That’s the most we’ve ever raised. We are so excited,” Iverson said.

The three public school districts that span the length of Le Sueur County have seen some positive COVID-19 cases and the quarantining of students and staff since the school year started.
Questionnaires regarding the status of COVID in the school districts were sent to the superintendents of New Prague Area Schools, Tri- City United Schools, and Waterville- Elysian-Morristown Schools last week. Of the three, New Prague reported the highest rate of positive student COVID cases, which accounts for 1.2 percent of the student body.

An audio recording circulated online last week of a Tri-City United Montgomery choir teacher disciplining his class. The recording was secretly recorded by a student and shared on social media and other news outlets.
In the audio, the teacher expresses frustration over some students’ behavior.