Lisa and Jeff Decker remember hearing about the signs and the green T-shirts among the home side of Trojan Stadium showing their support for their teenage son, Mason, at a football game four years ago. But there was support from the Northfield student section across the field that also touched the Decker family’s collective heart.

The Northfield students arrived dressed in green. They rolled out a huge sign that told the Deckers and their friends they were not alone. The sign said, “No one fights alone- #MasonStrong.”

New Prague High School announced their candidates for homecoming king and queen Friday, Sept. 26. Queen candidates are (left to right, back row) Karly Ophus, Mallie Lock, Ashlee Nelson, Alice Kartak, Kyla Klein, Chloe Wiita, Lily Schoenecker, Lydia Yarolimek; king candidates are (front row) Anthony Baker, Mason Decker, TJ Washtock, Tyler Flicek, Thomas Geiger, Marty McBroom, Mason Deutsch and Cade Borwege.

New Prague High School will celebrate homecoming beginning this Friday, Sept. 26, with Class Color Day. There will also be the powderpuff football game Sunday, Sept. 28, Homecoming continues Tuesday, Sept. 30, through Friday, Oct. 3.

The reason for the change is this coming Monday, Sept. 29, is a staff only/professional development day, said Heather Vikla Dobias, homecoming advisor. This Friday with class color day, seniors will wear black, juniors wear purple, sophomores wear green, freshmen wear blue and staff wear gray.

Despite a cloudburst Friday evening, Sept. 19, people still came out to enjoy Dozinky, New Prague’s Czech harvest festival, Saturday, Sept. 20.

The cloudburst came during the Classic Car Cruise, Friday with people taking shelter under awnings or umbrellas. The passengers of one convertible in the car cruise had several umbrellas with them.

Before the parade of vintage vehicles on Main Street, cars gathered at New Prague High School’s parking lot. The New Prague Rotary Club took care of registration of the vehicles and a rough count had 297 vehicles participating.

Members of the Barten family of rural New Prague, from left, Felix, John and Vincent Barten get one of several cornstalks set up Monday evening, Sept. 15, along New Prague’s Main Street. The Barten family cut cornstalks from their field earlier on Monday using their 115 year old machine. The family helps decorate Main Street for Dozinky, New Prague’s Czech harvest festival, that will be held Thursday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 21. Also helping Monday evening were Fran Barten and Joe Barten and the Hughes family of Brian, Allison, Maggie and Leah.

They walked across a stage in Trojan Stadium, ceremoniously accepted their diplomas and began the next chapter in their lives, not expecting they would one day be back in their hometown as visiting members of a college pep band.

Superintendent aims for district to be ‘better together’

In the wake of a successful performance review, New Prague Superintendent Andy Vollmuth laid out a series of goals and steps to achieve them last week.

The draft of the goals were provided to board members Monday, Sept. 9, at a workshop meeting. They include:

• To support the NPAS School Board to achieve excellence in governance;

• To create systems and structures to enhance excellence in management;

Participants in the Dozinky Zero K at Giesenbrau Bier Co. in New Prague Thursday evening, Sept. 18, give a toast. This was the fifth year of the “race” where the starting and finishing line were one and the same. The Zero K and Dozinky Bingo shortly after that are among the many activities that will be held during New Prague’s Czech harvest festival, rain or shine, this weekend. On Friday, Sept. 19, is the Classic Car Cruise beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept.

A serious crash on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 11, left two vehicles, one towing a trailer with a vehicle on it, in disarray with at least one fatality, according to a press release by the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident happened at the intersection of Le Sueur County Roads 28 (320th Street) and 32 (211th Avenue) in rural Derrynane Township, about three miles north of Clear Lake (Lexington) at about 7:12 a.m. 

The New Prague Fire Department was flying a United States flag in front of its department the morning of Thursday, Sept. 11, in memory of the events that happened Sept. 11, 2001. This is the 24th anniversary of the terroristic attacks on American soil on Sept. 11, 2001, when two airplanes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, a third was flown into the Pentagon and a fourth airplane crashed in a rural Pennsylvania field, during a passenger revolt.

The New Prague Police Department reported Tuesday, Sept. 9, on its Facebook page, that at 10:50 a.m. law enforcement located a body suspected to be a young man reported missing since Sunday, Sept. 7. The body was located in a field within New Prague with the assistance of a law enforcement drone.

Information regarding the identity of the deceased and the cause of death will be released at a later date by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, said New Prague Police Chief Tim Applen in the press release. The incident remains under investigation said Applen.

The search is on for a missing adult male, Logan Sampson, who has been missing since Sunday, Sept. 7. According to the New Prague Police Department’s Facebook website Sampson was last seen on camera at 1:30 a.m. near Phillips Parkway wearing a grey hoody and blue jeans or black jogging pants.

According to the Facebook group New Prague Happenings, he was possibly seen heading west on foot along Highway 19 towards Union Hill around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The same post stated a search party was started at 6:45 a.m. Monday morning, Sept. 8.

Ken and Lana Witt of New Prague were recently named the grand marshals for Dozinky’s Parade of Farm Pride.

The couple have been pillars of the New Prague community for decades, according to the New Prague Chamber of Commerce.

Ken and Lana Witt will lead the Parade of Farm Pride, Saturday, Sept. 20, at noon, along New Prague’s Man Street. The parade is part of Dozinky, the city’s Czech harvest festival being held Thursday evening, Sept. 18, through Saturday.

As a student growing up, she never enjoyed art classes. “The art teacher always told us what we should do and how we should do it,” Beth Vander Heiden said.

Today, the New Prague photographer is her own artist. She uses the earth and night sky as her pallets, creating images using a blend of a keen eye for light, shape and color and unshakable patience.

Despite the threat of storms over the weekend, the rain mostly held back until after-hours of the Le Sueur County Free Fair.

The 168th annual event took place Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 14-17.

The forecast called for storms each day, but the worst of the rain came in the early hours of Saturday and well after the fair closed Sunday night. Both times, Le Center saw up to an inch of rainfall.

A half-inch of rain fell in the afternoon Friday, but had cleared as the events for the day moved into gear.

Three years ago, members of the New Prague Lions Club began volunteering their time to support Dollars for Deb, a fundraiser designed to raise money to serve cancer patients and remember Deb Bertrang-Piotter.