Every so often in a yard or a window around this time of year, a person can see a sign that asks people to remember the reason for the season. And while we should remember why we are celebrating, we should also remember that one of the teachings of that little babe was helping others.

We’ve reached another Thanksgiving and I think for many of us there are always some memories of past Thanksgivings. There are likely two areas where those memories fall into — family and food.

He was kind of like New Prague’s own Sid Hartmann when it came to sports. His Sid Hartmann bobblehead graced his desk area. I don’t know that he had as many “close personal friends” as Sid, but I do know that he had a lot of friends, and even more people that recognized him when he was in our community, whether walking down Main Street or covering local sports. He loved his New Prague Trojans and was a proud St. John’s Johnnie.

As many of you know, The New Prague Times’ editor, Chuck Kajer, died unexpectedly last week. Chuck was at The Times for nine years and then left to work for Sun Newspapers in the Twin Cities metro area. Chuck eventually came back and he and I worked together for about 17 years. Our first meeting was before he came back to The Times. It was just before I came to work for the paper. I had had a job interview with The Times’ publisher Chuck Wann and a few days later I had an interview at Sun Newspapers.

This weekend, most of the United States will try to remember the old adage, “Spring forward, fall back.” as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end.
Twice each year, our internal clocks get rewired as we have to adjust to a slightly new sleep schedule. It’s going to get dark earlier in the evening and the sun will be coming up earlier in the morning as well.

If you spend any time driving rural roads this time of year, you know it’s harvest time.

Halloween is “creeping around the corner,” according to a press release that came across my email this week.
The holiday brings back a mixed variety of memories. My earliest Halloween memories are the costumes we had for trick-or-treating when I was young.

Last week’s snow brought attention to the fact that summer is definitely over. 
Still, it doesn’t mean that winter is here. Fall weather is here in full force, and the crisp morning and evening air, along with the crackling of leaves underfoot and colorful canvases on the trees makes it a time of year to celebrate.
There are plenty of activities to enjoy during the fall. This weekend, the Gopher State Railway Museum hosts its annual Pumpkin Train; Barten Pumpkins will be open the next two weekends, and many county, regional and state parks have fall programs.

Motorists traveling on Minnesota roads this fall should be aware of large farm equipment transporting crops to markets, grain elevators and processing plants, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
"Harvest season is ramping up across Minnesota and farmers need the highways to access their fields and deliver crops to market," said Brian Sorenson, state traffic engineer. "Motorists need to be prepared to encounter slow-moving farm vehicles, especially on rural, two-lane roadways, now through November.

It’s October and we all know what that means. It’s a time when the trees really begin changing colors and for some farmers it’s the final stages of harvest season. It’s a time when some fields are golden with corn stalks or a bright orange with pumpkins. When you can come over a hill or around a bend on Highways 13, 19 or 21, County Road 2 or even Highway 169 and see the trees are ablaze with red, yellow, gold, orange or a combination of them.

New Prague’s Charles Borak Post 45 of the American Legion is celebrating its 100th anniversary Friday, Sept. 27, with a celebration at the Park Ballroom.

It’s New Prague’s biggest annual event. The 35th Annual Dozinky Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 21, with Dozinky Cruise Night set for Friday, Sept. 20. 

Mother Nature showed off its awesome power last week, as Hurricane Dorian made its way along the eastern seaboard. Thankfully, much of the U.S. was spared from its fury, though there was some major flooding and damage when the hurricane made landfall in North Carolina.

On Monday, Sept. 2, we celebrate Labor Day.
Typically considered the end of the summer recreation season, most people don’t put much thought into the holiday and its history and meaning.
Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.

I was at a recent author visit at the library, Peg Meier, who said, “Everybody has a story.” That is appropriate in that August marks my 20th anniversary of working at The New Prague Times and in that time I have covered many people’s stories. The vast number of stories have covered a wide range of areas, from their hobbies to beginning new jobs or retiring to how they are helping others to their grievances with others to how their family is dealing with disease or small miracles or tragedies.

New Prague had some visitors from the Czech Republic on Wednesday, Aug. 7. Four university students who are spending the summer working at Valleyfair were in town, hoping to find signs of the community’s Czech heritage and perhaps some Czech food. They stopped by The New Prague Times office, hoping for guidance.
Two of the students - Richard Sramek and Zaneta Paskerova, are from Ostara in the Czech Republic. The other two, Oleksandr Borofskyi and Valeriia Podolian, are from Ukraine, but are attending school in Prague.