Dean M. Hovey - 4/4/1959 – 3/30/2023
Dean was born to Edwin and Barbara Hovey, in Austin, MN. He spent his adolescent and teenage years with Alvin and Margie Wondra, of Montgomery, MN where he graduated high school. He went on to become a skilled welder, starting his career at Minnesota Valley Engineering (MVE), in New Prague, MN.

Robert “Bob” Louis Heilman, age 71, of Le Center, passed away on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at his home. Visitation will be held on Friday, March 31 from 4 pm-8 pm at Le Center Funeral Home. Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, April 1 at 11 am at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Le Center with visitation one hour prior. Interment will be held in Woodlawn Cemetery in Le Center at a later date.

Arnita B.

Richard Francis Korbel, age 88, of New Prague, passed away on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at home surrounded by his family. Visitation will be held on Saturday, April 1 from 9:30 am-1:30 pm at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery. Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 1:30 pm with Fr. Tom Niehaus officiating. Interment will be held in the Calvary Cemetery in Montgomery.

After selling fashion online, out of her basement and garage, BAM Fashion Boutique owner Amy Gray opened her first-ever retail store in Lonsdale on Saturday, March 18.
Gray explains that her home business and family’s move to Lonsdale made them look for a brick-and-mortar location.
“I ran out of my basement in Elko in the beginning, then out of our detached garage,” she explained after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday at 126 Main Street North. “I would have open shopping hours, but never set hours.”

Franke’s Bakery was sweeter than normal on Saturday, March 18 for those who renewed their membership or took out a new one to the Montgomery Area Community Club’s (MACC) Annual Membership Drive.

Tri-City United sophomore Alexia Marcussen was selected Most Valuable Player of the Titan Girls Basketball Team during their Awards Banquet Sunday, March 12.
Marcussen led the Titans with free throws made (5), best free throw percentage (50-of-70, 71.4%), assists (81), steals (53), deflections (78), and she also scored 192 points in 27 games (7.1/game).
Marcussen and classmate Audrey Vosejpka each received Honorable Mention All-Conference Honors.
Kaia Krocak, Jacy Saemrow,, and Sami Tiede were also honored with the Academic All-State Award.

Tri-City United High School band and choir students had a memorable trip March 5-10 at Disney in Florida.
For some students, it was their first time on an airplane, seeing the ocean or even their first time leaving Minnesota.
TCU Music Director Sarah Costello said, “We had an amazing time on our trip!  We are so thankful we are able to offer opportunities like this…that we did some fundraising to help lower costs, and students got to experience such wonderful memories on our trip.” 

Students from the Tri-City United Business Professional’s of America (BPA) teams placed well at this year’s state competition in Minneapolis during the state Spring Leadership Conference.
The network design team of Josiah Turek and Cole Walters placed first in their category and will be moving on to the national competition in Anaheim, California. Turek and Walters are not the only team from TCU to advance to the national competition. Three other teams (listed below) will be heading to California to compete at the National Leadership Conference April 26-30.

Chuck Wann, who worked for over 50 years with his grandfather, mother and family members to run Suel Printing and The New Prague Times, passed away this past week. He leaves behind a legacy of a family-owned publishing company committed to serving readers and advertisers and helping make the communities they serve better.
Chuck’s obituary appears on newpraguetimes.com and in this week's papers.

A number of entities came together to implement the Farmers Protecting Rice Creek Project in the Rice Creek watershed in 2018. The project expanded to include parts of Heath and Wolf Creek watersheds in 2021 and was renamed the Farmers Protecting Bridgewater Streams Project (FPBSP).

Al Christensen, Tri-County Solid Waste
Hello Everyone. I’m not ready to mow lawn or fight mosquitoes yet but I’m ready for a change or maybe my snow shovel is just begging for mercy! Our hazardous chemicals topic this month was prompted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), and I was glad they suggested it.
Mercury

Six Tri-City United High School female weightlifters placed at the state competition. Halee Gargett claimed the title as the state champion in the 45 kg class.
The state weightlifting competition was held Saturday, March 11, in Cannon Falls. Coach Andrew Meier said, “Great way to end the year! All of the girls set personal records in at least one of their lifts. Ana Stasney improved her total by 6 kg! Halee becomes the schools 5th State Champion. She lifted very well.”

You can visit the Montgomery Arts and Heritage Center over the next two months to see Tri-City United student-created artwork. The exhibits will run from now through May 13 and will be divided into three grade-level groups.
Many different types of artwork displayed, including pottery, watercolor paintings, beadwork, knitting, collages, photography, and more.

Six Tri-City United High School female weightlifters placed at the state competition. Halee Gargett claimed the title as the state champion in the 45 kg class.
The state weightlifting competition was held Saturday, March 11, in Cannon Falls. Coach Andrew Meier said, “Great way to end the year! All of the girls set personal records in at least one of their lifts. Ana Stasney improved her total by 6 kg! Halee becomes the schools 5th State Champion. She lifted very well.”

Tri-City United High School was host to the Minnesota River Conference (MRC) Speech Championship Meet on March 11, an annual event that brings together the best speech participants in the conference.
“This fine arts event captures excitement for our participants, parents and fans of speech,” said MRC President Randy Walsh of Sibley East High School, “Through the work of the coaches and students, the MRC continues to produce outstanding performers.”