Donald Arthur Matson, age 81, passed away peacefully on July 13, 2026, following a lengthy illness with congestive heart failure and diabetes, surrounded by his family.

To celebrate the Fourth of July, Gopher State Railway Museum (GSRM), north of New Prague, held train rides on its historic train engine or cars.

Held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 76 adults and 44 children had bought tickets by early afternoon.

Families could ride the diesel electric locomotive or one of two cabooses, which included a Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range C-25 built in 1900 or a Milwaukee Road 992147 built in 1956.

“This is our first time,” said Chris Reyes of Jordan. “I think it’s great. Our girls loved it.”

Somehow, we’ve made it this far – 250 years old.

With the power of governance divided between a central national government and individual states, the United States celebrated its 250th birthday as a constitutional federal republic and a representative democracy this past week.

We’ve been around for 250 years. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to some governments around the world. Fifty years ago, we thought 200 years was a really big deal. The celebration of our bicentennial in 1976 was a big deal. There was a premium on patriotism.

Orioles use big numbers in a pair of DRS victories

New Prague’s town baseball team turned its offense up a few notches this past week in a pair of victories.

Averaging over 10 runs in two games, the Orioles thumped Lake Crystal and St. Benedict heading into Sunday’s rivalry game against Union Hill at Don Giesen Field, July 12, 2 p.m. The Bulldogs topped the O’s, 8-6, June 14 in New Prague.

Crews working on the new POPS (Praha Outdoor Performance Stage) facility north of West Main Street were busy Wednesday, July 1, installing a nearly two-ton glulam (glued laminated) timber beam in the front of the facility.

“Progress has been good,” said Den Gardner chairperson of the non-profit, Forward New Prague Foundation, which is overseeing the building of the POPS facility. “We had minimal activity for a couple of weeks as we worked out a few structural engineering issues.”

Gardner said it is expected there will be almost daily work in the ensuing weeks.

Mike Meyer is honorary survivor at annual ACS Relay for Life

Mike Meyer knows all about luck – bad luck, good luck.

He’s seen his share of both.

Lucille Marie Nickolay, age 103, of New Prague, passed away peacefully on July 4, 2026.

Lucille was born on December 2, 1922, in New Prague, to John F. and Bessie Bazil Nickolay. The oldest of ten children, she grew up during the Great Depression and learned early the importance of hard work, responsibility, and caring for others. She attended St. Wenceslaus Catholic School for eight years and graduated as salutatorian of New Prague High School in 1940.

Constance “Connie” M. Judt, 79, of Charlotte, NC, passed away Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at the Atrium Health Pineville Hospital. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, and friend who will be missed by those who knew her.

Roger Hartman, 89, of St. Benedict, MN, passed away peacefully at home on July 2, 2026 - the 66th wedding anniversary with his wife, Janice.

Hours before the first shell wwill be fired into a dark sky over New Prague, a crew will started working on the launch site. But the actual work of presenting a fireworks show tomorrow evening began weeks ago.

The few times New Prague’s American Legion team has lost, the team has rebounded with a win, a resilience impressing team leaders and coach Jackson Sirek.

Case in point: Saturday, July 27, the NP team fell to Zumbrota-Mazeppa, 19-10, in the first game of a round-robin mini-tournament at Jordan. New Prague rebounded with a nice win over Jordan, 5-1. Monday, June 22, NP dropped a 10-2 decision to Prior Lake. The team bounded back three days later with a 5-2 win over Rosemount.

New Prague and area communities will be offering fireworks and other festivities to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday.

There have been a few posts on the local social media pages the past few months regarding the site of the anticipated new post office and if the post office isn’t going to use it, maybe – insert the name of your favorite restaurant – might be interested.

After a tough extra-innings setback, a win was just what the doctor ordered for the Union Hill Bulldogs Sunday.

Union Hill topped Lonsdale Sunday, June 28. It took some of the sting out of Friday’s June 26 12-inning home loss to the Braves.

Union Hill 8, Lonsdale 3

The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the second inning when Will Busch smacked a double and later scored without the benefit of a hit. UH upped its lead to 2-0 when Jack Kreutzian singled, scored on Joe Becker’s two-base hit down the right field line.

By all accounts, the 10th annual Home Run Derby to benefit Jacob Kirchner and his family was, well, a grand slam as generous donors overwhelmed the Belle Plaine family with financial support, a wheelchair-accessible minivan, financial support and a sense that people they don’t even know genuinely care when a child and his family are in need.