New Prague had a beautiful evening on Friday, Nov. 30, for its Parade of Lights and Holiday Celebration in the Park as temperatures in the 20s were cold, yet comfortable, and snow on the ground added to the winter atmosphere.

The New Prague City Council approved two of three requests concerning the Main Street 2020 improvement project at its Monday, Dec. 3, meeting. The council did unanimously approve a resolution ordering improvement and preparation of plans for the project and a concurrence with Section 4(f) for Temporary Occupancy of Memorial Park to replace an existing 28-inch clay storm sewer outlet pipe that runs across the park. The council tabled until its Monday, Dec. 17, meeting a resolution approving the final layout (Municipal Consent) for the Main Street 2020 improvement project.

The New Prague Area School Board will honor outgoing members with a reception following the school board meeting scheduled for Monday, Dec. 10. The reception is expected to begin about 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Board Room.
Don Dvorak and Jerry Walerius joined the Board in January of 2006. Sherry Brooks was appointed to the Board in July of 2010.
They will be replaced by Mark Bartusek, Tammy Pexa and Leo Giesen in January 2019.

Charles M. Novak of Detroit Lakes, MN passed away unexpectedly on November 6, 2018. He was 68. Charlie was preceded in death by this parents Edward and Elsie Novak, his sister Jean (Toczek), and his brother Edward. He is survived by his sister Frances, step-sister Janice Madden, sons Philip(Catherine Wernecke), Lucas(Sarah), and Matthew, and granddaughter Lauren.

National Newspaper Association President Andrew Johnson alerted NNA members on Monday that there will be no mail delivery on Wednesday, Dec. 5 because the United States Postal Service will be observing a national day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush.
As a result, post office retail and services will be closed. Suel Printing Co. newspapers (Montgomery Messenger, Lake Region LIFE, Elysian Enterprise and The New Prague Times), which are mailed on Wednesday afternoon, may be delayed.
The closure will not affect newspapers delivered by local newspaper carriers.

On Friday, November 30, 2018, Lois Hendricks, 87, passed away surrounded by many family members.
The third of four daughters of a pastor, Lois moved several times – spending her high school years in St. Paul, Chicago and Seattle. She spent a year at St. Olaf College, Northfield, and another at Fairview Nurses Training, St. Paul, before her marriage, on Oct. 27, 1951, to Ralph Hendricks.  Lois worked various jobs to support the businesses started by Ralph, most notably at Hy-Point Hatchery, and then as co-founder of Cedar Lake Farm.

Members of the Domaci Czech Folk Dancers made one last performance on Sunday, Dec. 2, at Hometown Holidays at the Park Ballroom in New Prague. The group, directed by Arnie and Deb Ziskovsky, spent 19 years promoting traditional folk dancing. Approximately 30 vendors had an assortment of handcrafted items for sale at the annual event. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Mrs. Claus was ready for a photo, but Paige Hirdler, second from left, and sister McKenna were already talking with Santa about what they wanted for Christmas during the Santa visit at Kubes Realty on Saturday, Dec. 1, in New Prague. The daughters of Chris and Amanda Hirdler, the two girls were among the many children and families stopping by the annual event that ran until 1 p.m. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Patricia Ann Rynda, age 86, of Montgomery, died on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, at Mala Strana Care Center, New Prague.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, Montgomery on Saturday, December 1, 2018, at 11:00 a.m.  Interment will be at St. John's Catholic Cemetery, Montgomery.
Visitation will be held at the church for two hours prior to the service on Saturday.

New Day Church of New Prague recreates the first Christmas for the Parade of Lights on Friday, Nov. 30. There were many entries and a large crowd lining New Prague’s Main Street for the annual parade. Following the parade families gathered for the Holiday Celebration in the Park for the lighting of the Community Christmas Tree, visits with Santa, fireworks and other activities. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Simply wonderful.
That is the theme our newspaper chose to highlight the Christmas season.
So many times, we can take the simplest of ideas and make a mess of them, going way too far into detail and complicating even the simplest of endeavors.
So here is a simple piece of advice as you enter the holiday season: Enjoy it.
Don’t fret over which holiday party you’re going to attend or what to wear or what to bring as a gift.
Don’t worry that you’re going to offend someone if you have to leave an event early, or if you don’t show up at all.

Workers for New Prague Utilities put lights on the Community Christmas Tree in Memorial Park Thursday morning, Nov. 29. A ceremonial tree lighting will take place Friday, Nov. 30, following the city's annual Parade of Lights. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. going east from First Avenue NE toward Memorial Park, and the tree lighting will take place at approximately 7:15 p.m., followed by a fireworks display.

The New Prague Trojan girls hockey team went 1-1-1 during a busy week of action last week. The squad began with a 3-2 loss to Chaska/Chanhassen, then tied St. Paul United (No. 4, Class A) 2-2 in the first round of the Prior Lake Tournament. United won a shootout 3-2 to advance to the championship game, but the game goes down in the books officially as a tie. They finished with a 5-1 win over Prior Lake in the third place game of the tourney.

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving in some way. I made my nearly annual trip to my hometown of Thief River Falls. I say “nearly annual” in that every once in a while I can’t make the more than 300 mile drive to northwest Minnesota. Other times I’ve made it for Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holidays, but it was an adventure. Once, I had to stop in Fergus Falls overnight, because of car problems. Thankfully a garage was open the next day and was able to fix my car without it costing too much. Another time it was when I was coming back to New Prague.

Mindy Wescott of New Prague became a new homeowner through Habitat for Humanity South Central Minnesota. A dedication ceremony for Wescott’s new home along Wencel Avenue NE was held on Tuesday, Nov. 20, and was attended by 17 people representing the New Prague chapter of Habitat for Humanity South Central Minnesota, its Mankato office and volunteers who helped build the house.
“It’s thrilling that we’ve gotten to this point,” said Pam O’Brien, co-chair of the New Prague chapter of Habitat for Humanity with Mary Bender. She added it was an appropriate time as it was Thanksgiving.

Le Sueur County will be honored Monday, Dec. 3 during the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT) Annual Meeting in Bloomington.
MCIT announced last week that Le Sueur County has been selected as the 2018 County of the Year.
"The county has distinguished itself in the areas of loss control, risk management, claims administration, and responsiveness to MCIT," MCIT Executive Director Robyn M. Sykes said. "MCIT commends the county's commitment to managing exposures that jeopardize employees and citizens of the county to loss."