46 New Prague Area Directory / June 2013 - New Prague Times

40 New Prague Area Directory / June 2013Community eventsDozinky & Car CruiseThe third Saturday in September brings thousands of people from throughout theMidwest to New Prague to celebrate the ethnic heritage of the community. TheDozinky Festival is patterned after the Czech Harvest Festival. The first Dozinkywas held in 1985, and was called Oktoberfest. The sponsoring organization, theNew Prague Chamber of Commerce, decided to give the festival a more Czech flavorand it was rebranded as Dozinky in 1986.Each year, New Prague’s Main Street is transformed into amarket place featuring a variety of ethnic foods, music andcraft items for sale.Dozinky is actually a one-day event, but other events havehelped to extend the celebration into a weekend-long festival.Friday evening features a classic car cruise, featuring carsthat are 20 years old or older to parade along Main Street andthrough the countryside. People set up lawn chairs all alongthe route to sit and watch the cars of yesteryear as they driveby. Of course, any large gathering brings a variety of foodselections, and Main Street has many dining options on Fridaynight as well. The evening closes with a street dance thathas grown to two stages in downtown New Prague.Other Dozinky events include the annual Rick Tietz AlumniClassic Softball Tournament. The tournament featuresteams made up of different graduating classes from NewPrague High School and is played on Saturdayand Sunday at Memorial park. Acorresponding volleyball tournament isalso held for alumni women.Strolling musicians Frank Shima, left, and Ed Brezinaentertain along Main Street.Saturday evening brings the annual varietyshow, with entertainment of all sorts- dance, music, comedy and more, featuringarea residents. The event is held at theNew Prague High School Auditorium.Mark your calendar forFriday & SaturdaySept. 20 & 21, 2013Crowds pack New Prague’s Main Street at Cruise Night on Friday.