Day Three: New Prague
The Czech Memorial Highway brought us in to New Prague, onto a Main Street that my Czech relatives helped build. Two doors down from the building where my grandparents had their general store is Patty’s Place, where we walked into a warm, personal, and almost family event. It was a full house.
I didn’t give a campaign speech. Instead, I just said thank you to a town that has been a huge part of my family. I was introduced by my cousin Elaine Rybak Barber, whose mom (my Aunt Clara) taught at least half the town.
To thank people in New Prague, we donated to the historical society a catalog from my grandparents store in 1912, and some “Rybak money”… coins they gave away as change. It was great to have the Mayors of New Prague and Montgomery, Senator Dahle there, too.
I couldn’t leave without having ice cream from Cedar Summit Farm, a farm owned by Dave and Florence Minars. They came by to say hi, too. The farm was started near one my father once owned. They now sell butter and ice cream to stores and restaurants in the Cities – a good example of successful local farmers selling direct to the market. Megan and I spent our most recent anniversary at an outdoor dinner there. It was dark, and I got sort of lost trying to get back to the car, but the good news was that the stuff I stepped in was the same stuff I’m used to dealing with in my day job.
The New Prague visit meant a lot to me. It would have been great for my Dad to see it.
