Mental Health Awareness Day at the Minnesota State Fair will be held on Monday, Aug. 30, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Dan Patch Park located next to the Grandstand. This event, which features about 60 mental health organizations from across the state, is an opportunity for all Minnesotans to raise awareness about mental health, which is more important now than ever before as everyone continues to recover from the negative impacts of the global pandemic.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office honored Deputy Duane “Dewey” Jirik on Friday, July 30, as he retired after serving with the department for 24 and-a-half years.
“Deputy Jirik has served the residents of Scott County for over 24 years, working numerous assignments including Volunteer Reserve Deputy, Patrol Deputy, and as a Sergeant overseeing Court Security, Civil Process, Transports, and Campus Security,” said Scott County Sheriff Luke Hennen in a press release.

A large crowd was at Memorial Park on Thursday, Aug. 5, for Czech Out New Prague, for fun, entertainment, information and food. Held from 5-8 p.m. there was a steady stream of people coming through to look at the nearly 50 exhibitors and find out what New Prague has to offer for businesses, non-profits and other groups. Among the demonstrations were ones by New Prague ATA Family Martial Arts and To the Pointe Dance Academy. Weather in the 80s helped to bring out the crowds. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Effective Monday, August 9, 2021, all Rice County employees and visitors are required to wear a face covering in Rice County government buildings. This requirement is going into effect to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Rice County is currently classified as “high” community transmission of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker. The CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health recommend face coverings be worn in indoor, public settings by all individuals -- vaccinated or not -- when in a community with high transmission.

New Prague Police Officer Cory Schmitz, center, hands out stickers during National Night Out at Heritage Park on Tuesday, Aug. 3. Area communities observed the evening that brings together residents, police, fire departments and ambulance services so people can get to know each other. It was a beautiful evening for National Night Out. The event at Heritage Park also had members of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the New Prague Fire Department, plus served ice cream treats. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Irene C. Buresh, age 85 of Jordan, entered eternal life on July 30, 2021. A private Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, August 5, 2021, at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, Prior Lake. Irene will be laid to rest at St. Catherine’s Catholic Cemetery. Father Michael Miller will preside, and Irene’s grandchildren will act as pallbearers.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred and will be distributed by Irene’s family to her favorite charities. Cards may be mailed to Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation; 104 First St. W.; Jordan, MN 55352.

Annette “Ann” Eischens, age 75, of Prior Lake, MN passed away peacefully on July 30, 2021 at Grainwood Senior Apartments in Prior Lake. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, August 5, 2021 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Prior Lake. Visitation will be held prior to services from 9:30 – 11:00 AM. Interment Credit River Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred and will be distributed in Ann’s name by her family.

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.

Author Kate Anne Kang had a lively discussion with 14 members of the Minnesota History Book Club at the New Prague Library the evening of Monday, July 26. Kang wrote “Given Away,” a memoir about her own adoption from South Korea and then finding and reuniting with her birth family. Early in her presentation she noted how she had lived in New Prague with her adopted family for three months.
“We then moved to St. Louis Park,” she said.

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.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office offered its congratulations to Deputy Duane “Dewey” Jirik on his retirement today. Deputy Jirik, left, is honored by Scott County Sheriff Luke Hennen. “Deputy Jirik has served the residents of Scott County for over 25 years, working numerous assignments including Volunteer Reserve Deputy, Patrol Deputy, and as a Sergeant overseeing Court Security, Civil Process, Transports, and Campus Security,” said Sheriff Hennen.

With the current temperatures hitting the high 80s and the 90s, plus almost jungle like humidity on several of those days, the old question “Hot enough for you?” has likely been asked. There’s also probably been the statement, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Whichever it is, these are days that many of us are trying to find ways to keep cool.

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.

Jazmin Simon, center, of Coborn’s Marketplace in New Prague serves up a meal during the grocery store’s Drive-thru Guest Appreciation Dinner on Wednesday, July 28. Held from 4-6 p.m. Coborn’s hit 300 meals served at the 45 minute mark of the event. The meal included BBQ pork sandwiches with sides and sweets for a small fee per meal. Proceeds from the evening were going to United Way. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)