New Prague area residents gather at Prchal’s Originals the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 16, during Nozinky in Memorial Park. The gathering of food trucks and entertainment held its first night with the celebration continuing tonight (Thursday, Sept. 17) with food trucks in Memorial Park open from 4-9 p.m. and music from Troy Flemming and Timothy Price. There will be virtual events through the New Prague Chamber of Commerce’s website and Facebook page. For more on those events check out the Nozinky special section in the Thursday, Sept. 17, issue of The New Prague Times.

April Granneman, back right, Angela Helgeson and Jack, Luke and Matthew enjoy the Fire Rescue Day Parade as it goes by on Windrose Curve in Elko New Market on Saturday, Sept. 12. The parade of emergency vehicles and vehicles carrying the Lonsdale American Legion and the Lakeville High School Band, made its way through many of the neighborhoods, delighting area residents. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

To observe the 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the New Prague Fire Department was flying a US flag from its ladder truck on Friday, Sept. 11. (Photo courtesy of Jordan Stocker)

New Prague Area Schools began its hybrid learning classes for the school year of 2020-21 on Thursday, Sept. 3, with half of their 4,103 students showing up as part of the program. The other half of the kindergarten through 12th grade students came to classes on Friday, Sept. 4. On both days the students who weren’t in school were participating in distance learning. NPAS’ program is due to changes brought from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A public hearing was held Tuesday, Sept. 1 at the Le Sueur County Board Room to make a decision regarding the auditor/treasurer position.
The board notified the public of their intent to make this position an appointed position last month.
After publishing their intent in the legal county newspaper, a public hearing needed to be held.
There were neither written comments nor public comment during the meeting.
The board approved the resolution which will make the county auditor/ treasurer position an appointed position. This will take effect Oct. 2, 2020.

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.

From left, Tim Price of Faith, Recovery & Music, Deb Bodensteiner of The Well, Jim Reeder of Downtown Sound music store and music teacher Rick Hanzel were at the local Youth Ministry Teen & Youth Center on Thursday, Sept. 10, for a presentation of four acoustic guitars that teens and children can use to learn to play. Price, through his ministry of Faith, Recovery & Music, raised donations for the guitars. Reeder helped put together the packages, which included guitar stands and other articles and Hanzel donated his time in adjusting the instruments.

New Le Sueur County Veterans Service Officer Mark Roemhildt was asked to provide some helpful information for county veterans. Veterans Service Office Le Sueur County
The Le Sueur County Veterans Service Office (CVSO) is a county government department of Le Sueur County, located in Le Center, Minnesota.
The CVSO consists of the director who is appointed by the County Board of Commissioners as the County Veteran Service Officer, one professionally accredited Veteran Benefits Counselor, and an administrative assistant.

Students at Raven Stream Elementary School in New Prague were back to school on Thursday, Sept. 3, although there were changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and teachers were wearing masks or face shields, plus students were in smaller classes. New Prague Area Schools is also doing a hybrid program where students are in two groups. On Thursday students in group A were starting classes. On Friday, Sept. 4, students in group B would be starting classes. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Work continues on the new Hy-Vee Dollar Fresh grocery store, which will be in the former Shopko Hometown Store at 200 10th Ave. SE. New Prague city staff and Hy-Vee officials are working on a revised plan for the building.

A group of about 20 people offer prayers at New Prague High School on Sunday, Aug. 30, for the upcoming school year. The New Prague School District reached out to area churches to come and offer prayers at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
New Prague area churches that participated included Hillspring, Highpoint and NewDay. Other schools where there were prayer circles included New Prague Middle School and Falcon Ridge Elementary School.

Elko New Market expects to have a new building for its police department later this year as construction on the new structure is progressing on schedule. Greystone Construction of Shakopee is the main contractor on the project, which will add approximately 6,360-square feet to Elko New Market’s City Hall.

Installation of utilities along New Prague’s Main Street is continuing as one section was recently completed.
S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc. of Jordan, general contractor of the project, completed installation of the new sanitary sewer main and water main between Third Avenue NW and Second Avenue NW the week of Monday, Aug. 17. Work crews have now moved to the west side of the railroad tracks to install the sanitary sewer main between the tracks and Highway 21.

Elko New Market’s roundabout at the intersection of Main Street and Natchez Avenue, which are also Scott County Highways 2 and 91, respectively, is on schedule. If the work on the partial multi-lane roundabout continues as scheduled the roundabout will open on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
City Administrator Tom Terry said a ribbon cutting for the project will be held after lights are installed.

The filing for local elections closed at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, creating several races for the city councils in New Prague and Elko New Market. For the New Prague School Board there are six people running for five seats. Area residents will decide who will serve in the general election on November 3.