Richard J. “Dick” Eischens, age 88, of New Prague, died peacefully in the presence of his family on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at Amara Hospice in Edinberg, Texas.  Dick was born on September 27, 1931 in New Prague to John and Mary (Svoboda) Eischens.  He attended St. Benedict Parochial School, graduated from New Prague High School, and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas.  He worked for Northern States Power as the manager of the testing lab for 34 years.  He married the love of his life, Annette G.

The Minnesota State High School League put out an announcement Friday regarding cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
Effective Immediately:
The Minnesota State High School League is immediately cancelling the Girls Basketball State Tournament.
Additionally, all Boys Section and State Basketball Tournaments have been cancelled.
Section Speech Tournament events for the week of March 15-21 have been postponed indefinitely.
The Adapted Floor Hockey games scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14 will NOT be played either.

Johnny Pasek, longtime resident of Prior Lake, passed away March 11, 2020 at the age of 80. A funeral service was held on Tuesday, March 17th at 11AM with a visitation at 9:30AM at Bethel’s Rock Church, 6300 212th Street West, Farmington. Johnny was laid to rest at Concord Hill Cemetery with Pastor Kent Boyum presiding.
Pallbearers will be Brandon Hallum, Roger Pasek, Mike Hallum, Stephen Pasek, Tom Raduenz, Jimmy Volek, Joe Volek, and Dawson Hallum. 

EVENT CANCELLATIONS

Apparently the Switzerland booth was the popular spot for some students during the Culture Fair at New Prague High School on Thursday, March 12. This was the third year for the Culture Fair at the high school, showing off the various countries and beliefs represented in New Prague. There were 19 booths with many focusing on an assortment of aspects of a country or region ranging from its music such as a concertina with the Czech Republic to karaoke in the Philippines. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

Beginning Friday, March 13, New Prague Middle School will have four performances of fun and music as it presents “Shrek The Musical Jr.” for its spring musical. The show, based on the popular animated movie, will be at the middle school auditorium, 721 Central Ave. N with tickets available at the door. Showtimes are 7 p.m. March 13, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 15. Today (Thursday, March 12) there is also a senior preview at 3 p.m.

There’s the old saying about March that if it comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb, or vice versa. So far March has been more like a lamb with temperatures in a pleasant range and little to no snow. If the saying holds true we could have some snowstorms later this month, but we will see.

UPDATED March 13, 2020- The Adapted Floor Hockey games scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14 will NOT be played.

Elementary students from across New Prague Area Schools were able to show off their creativity with an assortment of projects at the Elementary Science Fair on Saturday, March 7. Held at the New Prague Middle School gym there were 52 entries in the annual science fair.
“We had a fun day of science and engineering,” said Jodi Prchal, fourth grade teacher at Falcon Ridge, who helps organize the event with New Prague Community Education. She said of the 52 entries there was “a wide variety of very interesting projects!”

Heather M. Cotter, age 38, of New Prague, died unexpectedly at her home on Monday, March 9, 2020.  Heather was born on April 7, 1981, in New Prague to Gregory S. and Sharleen G. (Beuch) Scheffler.  She graduated from New Prague High School and went on to complete courses in cosmetology.  She married the love of her life, Robert N. “Butch” Cotter, Jr. on April 27, 2007 at St.

Thursday, March 12, 2020 UPDATE
MANKATO, Minn. – (3 p.m.) Highway 93 from Highway 169 to Henderson is expected to reopen by 6 p.m. this evening, Thursday, March 12, after being closed since March 8 due to flooding on the Rush River.  Crews have been working to clear debris off the road and make repairs to shoulders and culverts.
 The shoulders of southbound Highway 93 are extremely soft due to exposure to the floodwaters. MnDOT is advising no travel on the shoulders until they dry out and repairs can be made.

Nearly 1000 people converged at the New Prague Aquatic Center this past weekend for the Minnesota Regional Championships Swim Meet hosted by Neptune Aquatics.
This was the first regional level Neptune Aquatics has hosted, according to Neptune coach Chuck Webb.
“This really helps to showcase the facility to the rest of the State and shows that we are capable of running meets at this caliber level,” said Webb.
In all, there were 12 clubs represented, including Neptune Aquatics, and 550 youth swimmers competing in a variety of events.

Time is the one thing that many of us wish we had more of, although in about a week’s, well, time we have two events that deal with the changing of time. Last Saturday was Leap Day, February 29, that one extra day in February that only happens every four years. As someone once put it if we didn’t add that one day every four years our calendars would eventually not making any sense. After a century our calendars would be off by 24 days.

The New Prague boys’ basketball team finished off its regular season with a pair of losses last week to two of the best teams in the state.
The Trojans were defeated Monday, Feb. 24 by Chaska, 61-43. Chaska has a 23-3 overall record.
The Wright County Conference East Division season ended Friday, Feb. 28 with a 70-65 loss to Delano. The Tigers had a 22-4 overall record.
Senior Parker Johnson highlighted the final regular season game by scoring his 1,000th career point.

A Las Vegas homicide suspect is in police custody after being located in Rice County.
Mark Doocy, 60, of Blooming Prairie, was arrested on March 4 at the Flying J Truck Stop at I-35 and Highway 19. According to Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn, Doocy was arrested and forced to leave his vehicle after he refused to cooperate with officials.

Rochester Mayo, the 14th ranked team in Class AAAA, ended one of the best seasons for the New Prague girls’ basketball team.
The Spartans edged the Trojans, 33-30, Saturday, Feb. 29 in the Section 1AAAA Semifinals.
“This was a hard game to swallow. We didn’t shoot it well, but wow, did we defend our tails off with a lot of toughness,” New Prague head coach Luke Swedberg said. “We had our chances until the final horn went off. That is kind of what has always defined who this group is...toughness.”