There have been a few posts on the local social media pages the past few months regarding the site of the anticipated new post office and if the post office isn’t going to use it, maybe – insert the name of your favorite restaurant – might be interested.

Hours before the first shell wwill be fired into a dark sky over New Prague, a crew will started working on the launch site. But the actual work of presenting a fireworks show tomorrow evening began weeks ago.

New Prague and area communities will be offering fireworks and other festivities to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday.

He entered the Special Olympics 2026 USA Games looking to enjoy the experience and do the best he could.

For New Prague’s Seth Dorner, mission accomplished.

A defender on the soccer team, Dorner and his teammates from the Prior Lake-Savage Soccer Club represented their state and themselves well, winning a silver medal. The team fell in the championship, a 2-1 overtime loss.

By all accounts, the 10th annual Home Run Derby to benefit Jacob Kirchner and his family was, well, a grand slam as generous donors overwhelmed the Belle Plaine family with financial support, a wheelchair-accessible minivan, financial support and a sense that people they don’t even know genuinely care when a child and his family are in need.

The few times New Prague’s American Legion team has lost, the team has rebounded with a win, a resilience impressing team leaders and coach Jackson Sirek.

Case in point: Saturday, July 27, the NP team fell to Zumbrota-Mazeppa, 19-10, in the first game of a round-robin mini-tournament at Jordan. New Prague rebounded with a nice win over Jordan, 5-1. Monday, June 22, NP dropped a 10-2 decision to Prior Lake. The team bounded back three days later with a 5-2 win over Rosemount.

Eric John Emanuelson, age 50, passed away June 27, 2026, at Abbott Northwest hospital, surrounded by the love and comfort of his family.

Eric was born in Ishpeming, MI, on February 13, 1976, to John and Cathy Emanuelson. He was raised in Ishpeming, MI, and Negaunee, MI, and graduated in 1994 from Negaunee High. He was always active in sports, especially football. He was an avid Green Bay Packers fan.

    Those looking to try a new 4th of July event this year are in luck. The City of Lonsdale announced earlier this year that it would be hosting a Founders Festival on July 3 from 3 p.m. to midnight. 
    A multitude of items will be happening over the course of the day, celebrating both the United States’ 250th anniversary and Lonsdale’s history.

Lois O. Dandurand (Schefers), age 83, of New Prague, passed away June 24, 2026, surrounded by family in her daughter’s home in Portland, Oregon.

Lois was born June 25, 1942, in Belgrade, Minnesota to Edmund and Johanna (Winter) Schefers.  They lived on a farm outside of Lake Henry. As a young child she walked to District 24 country grade school (almost 2 miles away) with her siblings. She graduated from Paynesville high school.

Brenda Jo (Burlison) Tollefsrud, age 78, of Lonsdale, Minnesota, formerly of Burlison, Tennessee, passed away unexpectedly, on Tuesday, 23rd of June.

Former superintendent led effort to build new high school

It’s unlikely the students who’ll walk the hallways and sit in the classrooms at New Prague High School ever heard of Robert A. Stepaniak. But he’s the former school district superintendent who led the effort to build the new high school nearly 30 years ago.

Surrounded by his family, Stepaniak passed away Saturday, June 13, after an extended illness. A memorial service was held Monday, June 22, in Faribault. He was 79.

During a recent Friday eventing at a St. Patrick Irish baseball game, Cathy Schmitz, dressed all in green, came riding in to Bonin Field on a Toro standup lawn mower. The mower, plus a Toro leaf blower and grass trimmer, were being donated by Angels Among Us, a Prior Lake based non-profit, as part of its mission to aid youth athletic programs.

“This will definitely help us,” said Mike Sticha of the St. Patrick Athletic Association, which sponsors eight youth baseball teams and three adult baseball teams.

In the mid- and late-1960s, the United States began drafting its young people into military service in a faraway place called Vietnam. It’s safe to say many of them had never heard of the southeast Asian country nor understood why they were being called to serve.

When they started the season neither one would have likely stated they would make the Minnesota State High School League’s clay target state meet.

Yet when the top shooters in the state line up and take aim at clay targets flying across a field at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Credit River, New Prague’s Ava Chlan and Amber Indykiewicz will be among the trapshooters competing as individuals at the state meet. The team competition begins in the morning with the competition for individuals slated for a 1 p.m. start.

River Valley League action also.

Whether they are competing as athletes or volunteering their time to make another athlete’s or spectator’s experience more enjoyable, a pair of New Prague men have a special connection to the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games this week in the Twin Cities.