Mary V. Palma, age 80, of New Prague, died Thursday, October 18, 2018 at White Pine Assisted Living and Memory Care.  She was born on May 29, 1938, in Evanston, IL to David V. and Teresa R. (Ormond) Wenzel, Sr. The family moved several times when Mary was a child before finally settling in St. Paul.  She graduated from St. Mary’s School of Nursing as an RN and began a life that fulfilled her passion for nursing.  She married Edward F. Palma on May 28, 1960 at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in St.

We are less than three weeks from Election Day, and in this week’s issue of The New Prague Times we are presenting our Voter’s Guide, with information on the candidates for local races for the Minnesota Legislature, county boards, city councils and school board.

Graduates, supporters, and friends of St. Wenceslaus Catholic School in New Prague gathered Saturday night, Oct. 13, at the parish’s activity center to celebrate the school’s 140th anniversary.
Friends of all ages reminisced about their grade school days while browsing a large memorabilia display, featuring class photos, old lunch trays, and more.

The Elko New Market City Council began a discussion of detachment of previously annexed properties at its Thursday, Oct. 11, meeting. The council’s consensus was to direct city staff to wait until approached by property owners.

The New Prague Trojan swim and dive team competed in their final two dual meets of the season last week, losing at St. Peter and at home to Delano.
The Trojans are now preparing for the Wright County Conference meet, which they will host for the first time at the New Prague Aquatic Center on Saturday, Oct. 27. Diving begins at 10 a.m. and swimming at 1 p.m. The conference JV meet will be held Monday, Oct. 22, at Dassel-Cokato.
Saints 97 , Trojans 84 The Trojans travelled to St. Peter and lost a dual meet to the host Saints, 97-84 on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

Though Lonsdale City Hall is not being expanded this year, it will be getting a facelift just the same.
“Staff is recommending a minor remodel,” said Lonsdale City Administrator Joel Erickson at the Lonsdale City Council meeting on October 10. “Essentially we’re creating offices for staff and the new hire.”
Erickson said he met with the city engineer and others to create a floor plan that will accommodate housing all staff on the main floor and allow council and advisory meetings to continue to take place in council chambers.

The New Prague Trojan boys soccer team played a strong first half in its Section 1AA playoff opener against Rochester Mayo Tuesday, Oct. 9, but playing without their No. 1 goaltender and then losing a player to injury during the game took its toll, as the Spartans scored five goals in the second half to claim a 5-0 win.

The New Prague Trojan football team lost its regular season finale to Owatonna Wednesday, Oct. 17, 55-13. The Trojans (1-7)  will open the Section 2AAAAA playoffs Tuesday, Oct. 23, as the No. 6 seed and travel to No. 3 seed Mankato West (7-1). 

The defending state champion Huskies, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA, took a quick lead, scoring on a 70-yard run on its first possession, then after an interception, scoring again to lead 13-0 before the game was two minutes old. They led 41-0 after one quarter and 55-0 at halftime. 

The New Prague Trojan volleyball team received the No. 3 seed for the Section 2AAA volleyball tournament, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 24. 
There are 11 teams in the section, and the top five seeds get first-round byes. After three play-in games on Wednesday, the top four teams will host quarterfinal games on Friday, Oct. 26. Semifinals are Tuesday, Oct. 30 and the championship game is Saturday, Nov. 3. All games will be played at the high seed except the championship game, which will be played at a neutral site. 

The New Prague Trojan boys and girls cross country teams had good showings at the Wright County Conference East championships Tuesday, Oct. 16. The girls placed second and the boys third at the meet. Three girls earned all-conference honors - (kneeling, left to right) Iris McCarthy, Nora Rosemeier and Sydney Siegle. Two boys earned all-conference and two earned honorable mention. They are (standing, left to right) Carson Davis (HM), Noah Weichert (AC), Jacob Malecha (AC), and Adam Brandt (HM).

Marlene “Gussie” Emmers, 80, passed away on October 14, 2018, at Methodist Hospital after an eight-year battle with kidney failure and being on dialysis. Visitation will be on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, from 9 to 10 a.m. with Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. all at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Le Center. Interment will be held in Calvary Cemetery in Le Center.
 

A two-vehicle accident sent a New Prague man to a local hospital on Monday, Oct. 15.
 
Kyle Pecholt, 24, was taken by Montgomery Ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health System Hospital after his 2015 Ford Fusion collided with a 2000 Kenworth Tractor Semi around 11:18 a.m. The crash occurred at the intersection of Highway 13/21 and County Road 28, north of Montgomery. 
 
The driver of the semi was Bruce Edward Lepage, 64, of Tomah, WI. He  was listed as wearing his seatbelt and not injured. Pecholt was also wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
 

The first few minutes of each half spelled doom for the New Prague Trojans as they lost to Rochester Mayo 67-27 Friday evening, Oct. 12.  at Trojan Stadium. 

The Spartans scored three plays into the game on a 70-yard run, then after a New Prague fake punt was intercepted, the Spartans scored on a 5-yard run and then on a 75-yard run to take a 20-0 lead before the game was six minutes old. 

The Trojans battled back and scored twice, but Mayo continued to put up points and led 40-13 at the half. 

With a five-set win over Waconia Tuesday, Oct. 9, the New Prague Trojan volleyball team has clinched at least a share of the Wright County Conference East championship.
The Trojans (15-7, 4-0 WCC East) will win the title outright with a win over Holy Family Catholic on Tuesday, Oct. 16. That is the final regular season home match for the Trojans, and will be played at New Prague Middle School due to floor maintenance scheduled to be done at the high school next week. Before that match, the Trojans compete in the Eastview Tournament Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12 and 13.

The Elko New Market Chamber of Commerce’s Candidate Forum drew 100 area residents interested in finding out about candidates for Elko New Market City Council and mayor, Minnesota House of Representatives District 20A and Scott County Sheriff. Held Thursday, Oct. 4, in the Elko New Market Library’s Community Room, the candidates provided information about themselves and answered several questions.

“Journalism Matters - Now more than ever.”
That is the theme for National Newspaper Week, which is being celebrated October 7-13. The New Prague Times joins newspapers across the nation in celebrating the free press and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which keeps the news media from government interference.