Joan Bernice Picha, age 92, of Montgomery, died on the morning of Friday, June 6, 2025, at Traditions of Montgomery.

Larry Dean Berninghaus, age 87, of Montgomery, passed away peacefully. at his home surrounded by family on Friday, May 30, 2025.
Born on July 23, 1937, in West Bend, Iowa, Larry was the son of Edwin and Eleanor (Zinnel) Berninghaus. He grew up working and playing on the family farm, where he developed a lifelong love of the land. A talented athlete, Larry was active in football, baseball, and basketball during his years at West Bend High School.

The Montgomery American Legion Auxiliary Unit 79 sponsors an Americanism Essay
contest every year for all students in grades 3-12, including home-schooled and special needs students. The contest is divided into six different grade level classes.
Essay lengths correspond to the student’s grade level, ranging from a minimum of 150 words to a maximum of 500 words.
Essays are judged on the local level and then sent on to state for judging, then to division, and finally to national.

The Montgomery Messenger recently carried a headline about the accomplishments of “Lady Titans.” When girls are referred to as “Lady Titans,” it means that Titans, which should be used for all students, instead refers only to boys.
Try to imagine it the other way around. Let's refer to girls' teams as Titans and boys' teams as "Gentleman Titans.” Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But it's no more ridiculous than the use of the term "Lady Titans.”

One of the best seasons in Tri-City United (TCU) softball history ended Saturday, May 24 in the Section 2AA Tournament at Caswell Park in North Mankato.
The Titans opened the tournament with a 13-0, 5 inning win over Blue Earth Area (BEA) Thursday, May 22.
In the second round, No. 6 seed Le Sueur-Henderson upset the No. 3 seeded Titans, 2-1 Friday, May 23.
In the first round of the consolation bracket Saturday, May 24, No. 2 seed Fairmont defeated TCU, 7-5, ending their season with a 14-6 record.

The Arts and Heritage Center in Montgomery is home to approximately 50 quilts and a handful of barn quilts currently.
Quilter Anne Pexa has brought together a double fistful of quilts she has worked on from start to finish, about 40 quilts on loan that she did the longarm stitching on, and a handful of painted barn quilts from her husband, Scott Pexa.
It certainly is the quilters delight with a series of colors and patterns in wide variety, including a lot of fabrics that were produced in Minnesota and some from Australia, where Anne Pexa was from.

Tri-City United High School graduated over 150 students on the evening of Friday, May 30. 
People overfilled the high school gymnasium, spilling into the halls. Some chose to sit in the auditorium, which a live stream of the ceremony was presented.
A full story will follow in the June 6 Messenger. Don't forget to pick up a copy of the May 29 Messenger at a newsstand, which features a special graduate section with full class picture and indiviual pictures.
Congratulations to the TCU Class of 2025!

John Richter, age 77, of Milaca, passed away on May 24, 2025, after a lengthy illness.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, June 14, 2025, at 11 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milaca with visitation one hour prior to the service at the church.  Arrangements are with Peterson-Johnson Funeral Home - Milaca, MN.

Graduation — It’s another season of parents sending their young ones off on a new segment in their life.
Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School held their eighth grade graduation last Tuesday, May 20, in the church. A mass was said for the three graduates at 6 p.m.
“Be more concerned about giving than receiving, whether that be at home to serve your family or in high school trying to help other young men and women to try and be what God wants them to be,” Fr. Timothy Sandquist said in his sermon.

Tri-City United Montgomery Elementary K-8 Parent-Teacher Organization’s End of Year Celebration on Friday, May 16, was thwarted by cool, cloudy and light rainy conditions — none of which hampered the spirits of the kids participating. The adults managed to have some fun too.

Sandra "Sandy" Marie Gilhousen, age 79, of Montgomery, died on the evening of Friday, May 23, 2025, at Traditions of Montgomery.

A religious service will be held in honor of soldiers who died in service at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, May 26, Memorial Day.
Following the service, at 9:30 a.m., the Montgomery American Legion Post #79 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #5340 will host a memorial program at the American Legion ballroom. The community is invited to attend the ceremony to pay respects to fallen soldiers of this community.

Four members of the Tri-City United High School Business Professionals of America (BPA) team competed in Orlando, Fla., at the BPA National Leadership Conference from May 7-11. The theme this year for the conference was “Capture the Moment.”

After starting the week losing two close games of a doubleheader, but won on Thursday and Saturday to finish the week .500 as they head into section playoffs next week.
New Ulm 6, Titans 4, (8 Innings)

Sandra "Sandy" Jelinek, age 78, of Montgomery, died on Thursday, May 14, 2025, at Oak Terrace Senior Housing in Le Sueur.

Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School’s (MHRCS) children used to have to go across the street to get to their playground, but not anymore. Volunteers and donations made a new playground set possible.
“We have been working hard raising funds for the past few years, especially the last two years working the MN Twins games in concessions. We also had a grant from the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence,” said MHRCS Principal Kari Marsh. “Our hard work finally paid off last fall when we purchased the playground.”