Former St. Wenceslaus Pastor (1982 – 1998), Father William Joseph Paron, age 78, of Waconia passed away Saturday, February 12, 2022 at Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday, February 18, 2022 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Joseph Catholic Community (41 East 1st St) in Waconia.  Visitation held from 9:30 A.M. until time of Mass at the church.  Interment in Catholic Cemetery in Shakopee.

Wayne E. Whipps, age 74 of Jordan, passed away quietly at his home on February 9, 2022.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2022 from 1-3 PM at Ballard-Sunder Funeral Home, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake. 

He was born August 10, 1959, at the hospital in New Prague, MN and passed away in the early morning hours on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at his home after an 18 month battle with pancreatic cancer. Gregg Busch was the eldest son of Roger & Mamie (Stehlik) Busch. He had three younger brothers, Tom, Pete, and Brad.  

Larry Schoenecker, left, demonstrates how to clean a fish at the Youth Fishing Seminar on Saturday, Feb. 12, at Raven Stream Elementary School in New Prague. There were 135 youth from ages 5 to 14 at the annual seminar hosted by the New Prague Sportsman’s Club. There was a casting contest, rod making demonstration, presentation about safety and regulations for fishing and prizes. For more see an upcoming print issue of The New Prague Times. (Patrick Fisher Photo)

The annual New Prague Archery NASP Tournament was held on Saturday, Feb. 5, with 629 total archers participating from 15 school districts. The competition included high school, middle school and elementary teams.
The top high school team was Lakes International Language Academy of Forest Lake with a score of 3,278. NP finished fifth out of the high schools with a score of 3,220.
The top middle school team was Milaca with a score of 3,226. New Prague came in fourth with a team score of 3,080. Milaca also had the top...

The New Prague Adapted Floor Hockey team has started its 2022 season with great success, winning their first four games.
The Trojans opened with the South Suburban Jets and defeated them, 13-1.
“We came out with a really strong start, got up 5-0 after the 1st period and were in control from there,” Coach Jeremy Kalal said. “Our defense was solid, allowing only 13 shots on net throughout the entire game. We felt great about starting our season with a solid all around game.”

Informational meeting to be February 13
The Miss Czech Slovak MN Program is seeking participants for its pageant in April and younger girls for its Junior Ambassador Program. An informational meeting for both groups will be held on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, at 1 p.m. at Montgomery Oil Company and David's Diner, 200 Fourth Street NW.
Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant

The New Prague boys hockey team scored only two goals during three Metro West Conference losses last week.
The Trojans were defeated Monday, Jan. 31 by Chaska/Chanhassn, 4-1. Bloomington Jefferson defeated New Prague in back-to-back games, 6-0 on Friday, Feb. 4 and 3-1 Saturday, Feb. 5.
John Schmidt scored his team-leading...
To see more on this story pick up the February 10, 2022 print edition of The New Prague Times.

John (Jake) “Pops” Keohen, age 83, of Montgomery, beloved husband, brother, father, grandfather, and great grandfather left this earth to join his heavenly Father on February 8th, 2022.
He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Kay; his sons, John “Jake”, Pete, Matt, Tim’s widow, Diana; stepchildren, Scott (Diane), Craig (Carolyn), Pam (Larry), Faith (Randy) and sister, Kathryn (Tatty); 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Helen and Jerry; sisters, Mary Hennes and Patricia Rynda; brother, Jerry and son, Tim “Wally”.

The annual Lonsdale Area Chamber of Commerce dinner returned to its in-person format on Tuesday, Jan. 25 after last year’s drive-in style due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The year’s dinner took place at Ettlin’s Ranchero Supper Club in Webster where several dozen chamber members gathered together to enjoy a meal, share many laughs, and hear about the successes in 2021 and what is in store for the Chamber in 2022.

St. Wenceslaus School proudly presents Elf Jr.! Buddy the Elf is an “orphan” who accidentally climbed into Santa’s bag and took up residence at the North Pole. His enormous size and poor toy-making skills lead him to the realization that he is not a real elf. So begins Buddy’s quest to find his birth father in New York City. Join Buddy on his adventure as he tries to get his dad off the naughty list, discovers his true identity, and brings the Christmas spirit to all of New York.

This past fall, the Minnesota Senate implemented a new art program for K-12 students throughout Minnesota called “My District, My Minnesota”. The Minnesota Senate invited students to submit a drawing or a photograph of life in their district. One submission of life in their district per Senate District was chosen to hang in the Minnesota Senate Building for the following calendar year.

Press release from the Le Sueur County Sheriff's Office.
Le Sueur County Sheriff Brett Mason reports that on Tuesday, February 8th, Agents, with the Cannon River Drug and Violent Offender Task Force, assisted by the Sheriff’s Office Investigations Unit and the Waterville Police Department arrested Nathan William Quast, age 37 and Emily Ann Wagner, age 33 of Waterville after an investigation in their involvement in control substance and possessing stolen property.

George David Kovarik, of Osceola, IN passed away peacefully on Jan. 23, 2022, surrounded by his family.
George was born Sept 21, 1945, in New Prague, MN to George and Sylvia Kovarik and is survived by his wife of 56 years Patricia, sister Irene (Art Bolduc) Kovarik, and daughters Shelley (Scott) Suckow, Amy (Jason Maki) Kovarik, Laura (Billy) Cronkhite, and grandchildren Aidan and Sylvia Suckow, Nicholas Kovarik, and Billy and Samantha Cronkhite. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister Darlene Kovarik.

Alfred C. Zaun, "Al", age 87, of Shakopee, Minnesota, entered eternal life on Sunday, February 6, 2022, in Shakopee.
 
Al was born on October 16, 1934, in Jordan, Minnesota, the son of Alfred H. and Delphine (Busch) Zaun. He graduated from Jordan High School, and then Mankato State University where he majored in Biology, and minored in Math and Business. He was employed first as a teacher, and then as a chemist for Honeywell, and Bureau of Mines. Al married Ann Sirek on November 22, 1958 in Veseli, Minnesota.