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.

Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.

Marvin Jakes Sr., 85, of Montgomery, passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021, at the Family Residence in Northfield. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 4 from 3 to 4 p.m. with funeral service following at 4 p.m., all held at St. John Lutheran Church in Montgomery. Interment will be at Bohemian National Cemetery at a later date.
Marvin was born on August 24, 1935, to Adeline (Kuzel) and James Jakes at their family farm in Montgomery. He graduated from Montgomery High School, and was a farmer for 50+ years. Marvin was united in marriage to Irene Spoor, and later divorced.

Officer Bryan Tupy, who began with the Montgomery Police Department in October 2019, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, July 26, 2021.
Officer Tupy began his law enforcement career as a part-time officer for the City of Le Center in 2015. Officer Tupy generally worked the afternoon or night shift with Officer Jack Strand.

Richard “Dick” Francis Gregor, 82, of Montgomery, passed away on Friday, July 23, 2021, at Central Health Care in Le Center. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 29, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montgomery at noon with visitation starting at 9:30 a.m.
Richard was born on April 30, 1939, in Faribault to Mary (Kotek) and Ambrose Gregor. He was united in marriage to Marge Grundhoffer on December 26, 1964, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.

Bryan Charles Tupy, age 31, of Jordan, died suddenly at his home on Monday, July 26, 2021.  Bryan was born on January 25, 1990 to Chuck and Shelly (Walerius) Tupy.  He attended St. Wenceslaus School, graduated from New Prague High School, attained a B.S. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of North Dakota, and then got his associate degree in Law Enforcement from Alexandria Technical and Community College.  He married the love of his life, Annalee Koonst at St.

Joe “Joseph” R. Pelant, 75, of Le Center, passed away at St. Francis Medical Center in Shakopee on Friday, July 16, 2021. Celebration of Life will be held August 1 at Lakefront Bar and Grill in Le Center from 1 to 4 p.m.
Joe was born on March 19, 1946, in New Prague to Elsie (Kukacka) and Joseph F. Pelant. He graduated from Montgomery-Lonsdale High School and Willmar Jr. College in Wilmar, MN.

Four people lost their lives in a two-vehicle accident in Le Sueur County’s Sharon Township, Sunday night, July 25.
According to a press release issued by the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, the crash occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of Le Sueur County Road 15 and Le Sueur County Road 22.
Initial investigation indicates a 2012 Ford Expedition with seven occupants, who were all from California, collided with a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado with one occupant from Le Sueur.

Grace Barnett, daughter of Kevin and Keri Barnett, and Abby and Chris Degrood, was crowned the 2021 Kolacky Queen on Friday. Joining her are First Princess Ellaina Novak, daughter of Gary and Tami Novak. Second Princess went to Ronni Smith, daughter of Clint and Jill Smith. The candidates chose Aubrey Filter as Miss Congeniality. (Wade Young Photo)

They’ll be dishing up delicious dumplings at the Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant booth this weekend.
Volunteers mixed, formed, rolled and cooked 3,060 potato dumplings on Sunday, July 18 in the Tri-City United High School kitchen. (That’s 12 and a half 25-pound bags of flour and 24 five-pound cans of potatoes!)
The dumplings will be sold as part of the stand’s popular Czech Meal Deals throughout the weekend at Memorial Park.

Montgomery’s law enforcement agency is implementing a bodyworn camera (BWC) program.
The program was approved by the City Council on Monday, July 19.
Police Chief Nathan Hintz believes the time is coming when the department will be forced to use them. He also said the cost-savings from avoided litigation will pay for the program.
“I believe one case of litigation or lawsuit will pay for it. It records the behavior our officers are seeing on the street. It makes us do our job correctly. It keeps us out of court. I believe it’s necessary at this point,” he stated.

Mary Margaret Walker, age 80, of New Prague, died unexpectedly with her husband at her side of complications from pancreatitis at Fairview Southdale Hospital on December 29, 2020. Mary was born on November 13, 1940 in Minneapolis to Andrew and Lylis (Blanchard) Jones. 

A community garden is taking root at the foot of Montgomery’s water tower takes to a group of ambitious Girls Scouts who are working to earn their Silver Award.
“We wanted to do a more long-lasting project for the community, and we thought there should be a community garden, so we decided to make it happen,” explained 14-year-old local Girl Scout Tahlia Buckingham.

The Credit River Antique Tractor Club held its 1 p.m. parade on Friday, July 16, at Cedar Lake Farm Regional Park. Around 40 tractors took part in the parade that was part of the 22nd annual show, which continues at the park north of New Prague on Saturday, July 17, and Sunday, July 18. Tractor parades will also be held at 1 p.m. those days with antique vehicles and engines on display, plus activities around the park and food vendors. The show is held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and offers free admission and parking. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times.

St. Patrick, Faribault, and Montgomery are on the upswing in the DRS Amateur Baseball standings. Prior Lake is heading the other way.
The Irish lead the league by three games with a 14-3 record after downing Prior Lake, 7-6, in 11 innings Sunday, July 11. The loss was one of three this past week by the Lakers.
Faribault is 4-1 in their past five games and have climbed into third place with an 11-6 record. Union Hill is in second place with a 10-5 record.

Beginning at 4 a.m. on Thursday, July 15, the intersection of Main Street and Highway 21, on the west side of New Prague, is scheduled to be closed for one day for mill and overlay work. The work will begin at the intersection and go west on Highway 19 to the intersection with Fifth Avenue NW/SW. There will be several detours around the closed intersection. Northbound vehicles on Highway 21 can take the turnoff right before the intersection to get onto Main Street. Drivers can then go north on Second Avenue NW, then west onto Second Street NW and reconnect to Highway 21.