An honor guard leads the procession out of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague on Sunday, Aug. 1, for the funeral of Montgomery Police Officer Bryan Tupy. Officers and members of area police departments, sheriff’s offices, the State Patrol, the Montgomery Ambulance Service and Fire Department participated in the honor guard during the funeral. For more see upcoming print issues of the Montgomery Messenger and The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Kristen Munden was offered, and accepted, the Head Boys Swim & Dive Coach position at New Prague High School, pending approval by the New Prague School Board.
The 2021-22 winter sport season will be the first year that Boys Swim & Dive is offered at New Prague High School.
Kristen started her swimming career on the YMCA swim team in Rochester from age 8-18. She continued swimming for Rochester Mayo High School from 7th - 12th grade.
After her personal career ended, she transitioned into coaching the sport she loves, swimming.

With one week to play, the final games of the DRS Amateur Baseball League schedule will be very important for playoff seeding.
St. Patrick (17-4 record) has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Region 3C Tournament, which will begin Sunday, August 8. Union Hill (14-7) and Faribault (12-8) have clinched league playoff byes. There are five byes available and five teams will be battling this week for those spots.
Montgomery (11-8), New Prague (11-9), St. Benedict (10-12), Lonsdale (9-11), and Prior Lake (9-11) are all in contention for the final two first round playoff byes.

Le Sueur County District Court has ordered the abandoned and dilapidated property at 100 First Street South to be razed.
The court ruled in favor of the City of Montgomery on July 16. Judge Patrick Goggins is ordering Taraba to vacate and remove all personal possessions from the property by Friday, July 30, 2021.
Taraba is also ordered, by the same date, to raze the building, remove all building debris from the site, dispose of it in a legally appropriate manner, and bring the basement back to grade.

The three key missions of the Tri-City United Public Schools are to empower learners, create opportunities, and be united for success.
District Superintendent Lonnie Seifert reiterated that point at a work session held by the TCU school board on July 26 as he addressed the discussion topic of Critical Race Theory.
“All means all,” Seifert said. “Equal opportunities for all students. That’s really what it should be, and that’s what we have been pushing.”

It seems like this year’s Kolacky Days was two years in the making. After last year, it was nice to see people getting together and coming to our town for our fantastic festival.
Yes, it was hot, but not oppressively so. I applaud the Montgomery Area Community Club (MACC) and its list of volunteers for putting on another great multi-day event. A festival like ours does not happen over night, nor, does it happen from the work of one person. In my opinion, they did a great job throughout the year, not knowing exactly what kind of festival they would eventually be able to put on.

The Postal Service is good to go on its plan to slow down the mail and implement aggressive price increases, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission in a pair of decisions handed down this week.
The PRC expressed skepticism about the wisdom of adding an additional day to service standards for both First-Class and Periodicals mail.
But it stopped short of telling USPS not to make the change. Instead, it cautioned USPS to examine its assumptions about cost savings and to look into the root causes of mail slowdowns in recent months.

Seven businesses participated in this year’s Christmas-themed Kolacky Days Window Display Contest.
Moonshot on Main’s window display at The Rustic Farmer, which is located at 209 1st St. S., earned the most points—an impressive 525 points. Judges could award each entry up to 40 points for theme, 40 points for design, and 20 points for signs/explanatory materials.

Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.

Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.

Marvin Jakes Sr., 85, of Montgomery, passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021, at the Family Residence in Northfield. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 4 from 3 to 4 p.m. with funeral service following at 4 p.m., all held at St. John Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Interment will be at Bohemian National Cemetery at a later date.
Marvin was born on August 24, 1935, to Adeline (Kuzel) and James Jakes at their family farm in Montgomery. He graduated from Montgomery High School, and was a farmer for 50+ years. Marvin was united in marriage to Irene Spoor, and later divorced.

Bryan Charles Tupy, age 31, of Jordan, died suddenly at his home on Monday, July 26, 2021.  Bryan was born on January 25, 1990 to Chuck and Shelly (Walerius) Tupy.  He attended St. Wenceslaus School, graduated from New Prague High School, attained a B.S. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of North Dakota, and then got his associate degree in Law Enforcement from Alexandria Technical and Community College.  He married the love of his life, Annalee Koonst at St.

Joe “Joseph” R. Pelant, 75, of Le Center, passed away at St. Francis Medical Center in Shakopee on Friday, July 16, 2021. Celebration of Life will be held August 1 at Lakefront Bar and Grill in Le Center from 1 to 4 p.m.
Joe was born on March 19, 1946, in New Prague to Elsie (Kukacka) and Joseph F. Pelant. He graduated from Montgomery-Lonsdale High School and Willmar Jr. College in Wilmar, MN.

Richard “Dick” Francis Gregor, 82, of Montgomery, passed away on Friday, July 23, 2021, at Central Health Care in Le Center. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 29, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery at noon with visitation starting at 9:30 a.m.
Richard was born on April 30, 1939, in Faribault to Mary (Kotek) and Ambrose Gregor. He was united in marriage to Marge Grundhoffer on December 26, 1964, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.

Four people lost their lives in a two-vehicle accident in Le Sueur County’s Sharon Township, Sunday night, July 25.
According to a press release issued by the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, the crash occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of Le Sueur County Road 15 and Le Sueur County Road 22.
Initial investigation indicates a 2012 Ford Expedition with seven occupants, who were all from California, collided with a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado with one occupant from Le Sueur.

Grace Barnett, daughter of Kevin and Keri Barnett, and Abby and Chris Degrood, was crowned the 2021 Kolacky Queen on Friday. Joining her are First Princess Ellaina Novak, daughter of Gary and Tami Novak. Second Princess went to Ronni Smith, daughter of Clint and Jill Smith. The candidates chose Aubrey Filter as Miss Congeniality. (Wade Young Photo)