The New Prague Area Historical Society is celebrating toys with a display at the New Prague Memorial Library from now until the end of January.

Dennis Dvorak of the historical society said the toys are ones from the Victorian era. “Some are 125 years old and they have been well cared for,” Dvorak said, adding some of the toys are made of metal or wood. Another reason the toys are well preserved is there was usually only one child in the family, who didn’t have to share his or her toys with others, said Dvorak.

It wasn’t quite as low as the 3.9% increase from last year, but the Le Sueur County budget and levy passed was still among the lowest of the last decade.

On Dec. 2, the Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners held its annual Truth in Taxation meeting to hear residents’ concerns. The hearing was followed by the official vote on the next budget.

The final levy was set at $30,337,063, which represents a 4.4% increase over last year.

The only years where the increase was lower were in 2021 (4%) and 2025 (3.9%).

The Elko New Market City Council approved a resolution at its Thursday, Dec. 4, meeting appointing Jay Simon as fire chief for the Elko New Market Fire Department.

City Administrator Tom Terry said officers in the volunteer fire department serve terms of three years. According to the department’s policy and procedure manual the position for fire chief must be posted for applications in October of the last year of the fire chief’s term. The only application received was from Simon, the current fire chief, said Terry.

Simon has been with the fire department since...

Bruce Bartyzal of New Prague has written his first book. It is about his dealing with chronic pain and writes about it with frank honesty at times, which likely explains the book’s title, “Chronic Pain Can Kiss My..” You can probably figure out the last word.

The book describes how Bartyzal started having simple, persistent knee pain four to five years ago, which rapidly became worse. Bartyzal chose knee replacement surgery that was supposed to improve his mobility. It was later discovered a major artery had been severed resulting in pain and internal bleeding.

New Prague High School’s wrestling team started its season with seven team victories over two dual meets last week. The meets were at Orono, Thursday, Dec. 4, and the Trojans hosted an invite Saturday, Dec. 6.

“I was excited for this day for a long time,” said New Prague head coach Dan Wagner about the Dec. 4 meet at Orono. “I know we have good wrestlers, but this was a time to figure out how they will wrestle as a team and for one another. They certainly did not disappoint and got the season off to a fast start.” 

It was a busy day, even with the snow, during Small Business Saturday in New Prague. Held Nov. 29, the annual event is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving and encourages consumers to support small businesses during the holiday shopping season.

This year, shoppers dealt with snowfall that started late Friday night, Nov. 28, and continued through Saturday. While customers continued shopping through the morning, more came out earlier in the day. Most of the stores offering deals and specials were along New Prague’s Main Street.

Organizers of the annual Thanksgiving dinner at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New Prague estimated they provided more than 200 meals to individuals and families. About 100 meals were served at the church and just as many or more were meals to go or delivered to someone.

Donna Galvin, who organizes the meals, said volunteers started to prepare the meal Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

The New Prague area will have several holiday events this weekend.

“I know SNAP has been the highlight of discussion for many, many weeks” Le Sueur County Director of Human Services Jamie Hayes said at the Le Sueur County Board of Commissioners regular meeting on Nov. 18.

Hayes was before the board for the payment authorization of an elevator project, but had time left in her segment to talk about the ongoing federal issues with the SNAP program.

Some people feign grateful for all they have to be thankful for this time of year. Bill Beranek needs no reminder he has plenty to be grateful for when he gathers with friends and family at Thanksgiving.

Last December, Beranek, a New Prague resident, heard the words nobody wants to hear. He had cancer, an aggressive type of cancer in his prostate. While some prostate cancer patients are told doctors plan to hold off on treatment and observe the cancer for change or growth, Beranek’s doctor told him the cancer was so aggressive that doing nothing was not an option, he said.

The New Prague Area Historical Society (NPAHS) hosted an event, “The History of Medicine,” Wednesday evening, Nov. 19, featuring Dr. Michael Wilcox, MD, as the presenter.

The historical society judged the event a success as a capacity crowd filled the Werner Giesen Bierstube room at Giesenbrau Bier Co. in New Prague.

Dr. Wilcox delivered a comprehensive presentation on 11 prominent physicians who practiced in New Prague between 1875 and 1975.

This Friday, Nov. 21, New Prague High School’s students begin a two-weekend run of the musical, “Bye Bye Birdie” which the directors call a fun classic.

Allie Meyer and Matt Stensrud are directors of the production with showtimes Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, 7 p.m. each night and Sunday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m. The second weekend of performances are Saturday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 30, 2 p.m.

“Matt and I read scripts and listened to soundtracks this summer and came up with lists of shows. ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ was on both of our lists,” said Meyer.

Sunday, Nov. 16, St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church welcomed veterans to a Mass by The Rev. Eugene Theisen, a veteran. Veterans were honored during the service and even children offered their thanks to the veterans.

After the Mass, 50-plus veterans and their spouses were the guests of honor at a special breakfast at the club room at the Park Ballroom. The breakfast, sponsored by Chuck Tupy and his insurance agency, was a continuation of a longstanding tradition in New Prague of recognizing and honoring veterans for their selfless service.

Autowash Systems, Inc. (ASI), the leading car wash distributor serving the Upper Midwest, announces the purchase of the New Prague Car Wash, located next to Casey’s Gas Station. This investment marks a new chapter in ASI’s ongoing commitment to advancing technician training and supporting the local community.

The primary purpose of this acquisition is to create a hands-on training facility for ASI technicians while showcasing the latest in in-bay automatic wash technology. As an added benefit, the wash will also be open to the community.

Since 1903, the Bruzek family has served New Prague and area families at times of grief and sorrow over the loss of loved ones.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, a two-vehicle crash happened around 11:58 a.m. on the east side of New Prague.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol a flatbed towestbound on Highway 19 approaching 141st Street in the left lane. The tow truck was hauling recreational items and pulling a pontoon.

The tow truck rear ended a stopped Ford vehicle at the intersection. After the impact the tow truck and pontoon jackknifed blocking the westbound lanes.

The driver of the Ford vehicle was air lifted by North Memorial, with non-life threatening injuries.