Most people are aware of the area food shelves and Tri-City United School’s summer meal program for kids 1-18. Even with such programs, Caitlin Huiras thinks there is still much need in this area to help food insecurity.
    Huiras is the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce executive director and quit her job, in part, as a public health program specialist in Carver County to start the nonprofit 507 Food Share in Montgomery. She has a formal education background in nutrition and public health, and her former job focused nutrition with Carver County. 

Growing up, she never looked at education as the career which would define her adult life. Thirty-plus years after she arrived in New Prague to begin teaching elementary school students, Jodi Prchal has used a strong work ethic and lessons on how to earn a living to provide lifelong lessons for students at Falcon Ridge.

The Elko New Market Police Department has been struggling to get candidates for patrol officer positions.

The Elko New Market Fire Department is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, the volunteer fire department had banners of retired firefighters placed along Main Street (Scott County Road 2) at the end of May and are up through Labor Day.

If he could, if his body would allow it, Jacob Kirchner would love to play baseball with his friends. Sadly, the 14-year-old boy from Belle Plaine cheers for his favorite teams – the Tigers and his big brother, Zachary, who plays outfield for the high school and town baseball teams.

The son of Jessica and John Kirchner, Jacob and his family – siblings Michel, Haley and Zachary – will be the guests of honor at the 10th annual Home Run Derby to raise funds for his family. It is scheduled for June 27, 6 p.m., at Don Giesen Field in Union Hill.

    Le Sueur County took a step to pump the brakes on data centers being built in the county. At the Board of Commissioners meeting on May 26, the county unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on data center construction.
    The moratorium covers unincorporated areas of Le Sueur County. Cities within the county can still make their own decisions.
    “If a city wants to have a data center, we don’t have any control over that at all,” Commissioner David Preisler said. “If they want to, they’re not affected by this ordinance. They’ve got their own planning and zoning.”

St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church of Union Hill, west of New Prague, held a free-will lunch and fellowship after its Feast of Corpus Christi, Sunday, June 7. Rev. Eugene Theisen agreed to get into a dunk tank to help raise funds. The dunk tank was $5 for children and $10 for adults. It was a popular event with children with many lining up to try and dunk Theisen.

Theisen agreed to...

To see more on this story pick up the June 11, 2026 print edition of The New Prague Times. 

Music at Memorial, the free summer music concert series in New Prague starts its fifth year of performances Wednesday, June 17, 6-8 p.m. Produced by the New Prague Arts Foundation, there are eight concerts this year, all on Wednesday nights.

“We are excited to produce the concert series again this summer,” said Den Gardner, chair of the foundation. “This is our last year at Memorial Park and we thank the city for the space. Next year the series will be at the new Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS) facility on the west end of town.”

Elko New Market joined other Minnesota communities addressing data centers as the Elko New Market City Council approved a moratorium on data centers.

The council approved the moratorium at its Thursday, May 14, meeting.

In a memorandum from City Senior Planner Renee Christianson said city staff recommended the adoption of the moratorium to allow the city time to study what the impact of a data center might be to the area and for a comprehensive study to be done.

While there has been little progress to creating a new U.S. Post Office for New Prague, behind-the-scenes work toward a new home for a facility has continued.

The Postal Service has secured a lease for a new facility at 1102 First St. NE in New Prague, said Desai Abdul-Razzaaq of the U.S. Post Office’s Corporate Communications Office. The location is the site of the former Pizza Ranch restaurant just east of the intersection of NE 10th Ave. and E Main St. “Construction activities will begin soon,” he said.

The New Prague City Council unanimously approved two resolutions for the property at 1201 First St. NE. The first was to purchase the property for $1.7 million, which recently had been the location for New Day Church and the second resolution established procedures relating to compliance with reimbursement bond regulations.

City Administrator Josh Tetzlaff said the second resolution was if the council makes a decision that bonding for the purchase of the church is needed. At this time, the city has no intentions to bond for the purchase of the property, Tetzlaff said.

Understanding the cost of freedom was a theme in the speech of New Prague’s Memorial Day speaker, Chief Master Sergeant Jamy Tikalsky, Monday, May 25, during ceremonies at the New Prague Veterans Memorial.

Tikalsky dedicated 31 years to serving the U.S. She served in the U.S. Air Force and the Minnesota Air National Guard. During her career, she supported multiple military operations, including Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Any New Prague High School graduate who was asked Saturday afternoon agreed postponing the ceremony to Saturday afternoon, May 23, 2 p.m. was the right decision. On a sunny afternoon, 343 seniors joined the ranks of graduates ready to begin the next chapter of their lives.

Rain before and up to the commencement ceremony’s scheduled 7 p.m. start time Friday evening prompted the rescheduling of the ceremony to Saturday.

Hundreds of people attended the retirement open house for Pastor Steve Trewartha, Saturday, May 16, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Prague. Trewartha, more known as “Pastor Steve,” has served as a pastor in New Prague for more than 20 years and is the founding pastor of FaithPoint Lutheran Church of rural New Prague.

When he thought about a contribution to the committee raising funds to build the Praha Outdoor Performance Stage (POPS) in New Prague, Eddie Shimota might have been able to cut a check and be done with the matter. But Shimota, owner of Shimota Project Management, noticed the committee had plenty of generous, dedicated and talented people, but none of them with much experience building anything.

In Memorial Day ceremonies that will be repeated across the United States, New Prague will honor and remember those who served and who gave all, Monday, May 25, with services at area cemeteries and at memorials.

The day will include ceremonies at the New Prague Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park along East Main Street. In case of inclement weather, the program at the veterans memorial will be held in the Park Ballroom, 300 Lexington Ave. S.