Given everything we learned at the Freeman City Council’s July 27 meeting, there should be no question of whether the city of Freeman should rebuild Main Street from the downtown business district all the way to the North County Road. It absolutely should, and there’s no better time to move forward with what would be a major infrastructure project than now.

On July 17, John R. Lewis died at the age of 80. He was a U.S. Congressman for Georgia for over 30 years until his death. His most important legacy was speaking out and actions for civil rights for black people in the U.S.A.

Ryan Liebl, manager of the Menno Mad Frogs, prepares the batter's box in-between Tuesday's night's two semifinal games that saw No. 5 Wynot upend No. 1 Tabor 5-1 and No. 3 Crofton take down No. 2 Menno 10-5. It was a late night for folks who took in the second game, which was delayed because of both the length of the first game and lighting in the area. Scheduled to start at 8 p.m., the Menno/Crofton game didn't get underway until after 11 p.m., with the final out coming around 1:45 a.m.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER City officials from Freeman appear to be serious about the possibility of rebuilding Main Street from Fifth Street all the way to the North County Road. Meeting in regular session Monday night, July 27, Mayor Michael Walter and the Freeman City Council discussed whether the time has come to move forward with what would be a multi-million-dollar downtown infrastructure project. The idea was presented by the mayor, who noted the city has $5.7 million “in the bank” he would like to see invested back into Freeman.

JEREMY WALTNER | PUBLISHER A young team made up of a number of first-year amateur players with their eyes fixed on the state tournament saw their season end earlier than they had hoped when the Freeman town team lost an elimination game to Irene Sunday night, July 26.

This picture of Irene Gross was part of a "Glamour Shots" photo shoot conducted by social worker Lindsey Unruh at Oakview Terrace last week. Dozens of photos were taken of residents to be sent to their families, with several men and women choosing to have a little fun while they were at it. This and a number of other pictures from the session will be included in the July 30 edition of The Courier. 

Members of the Freeman Blacksox are introduced prior to the start of their District 6B game against Irene Sunday night, July 26 in Menno. The Cardinals eliminated Freeman from play with a convincing 16-3 win and will move on for a chance to play in the state tournament on Thursday. Action picks up again Tuesday night with No. 1 Tabor facing No. 5 Wynot at 6 p.m., followed by No. 2 Menno against No. 3 Crofton. The winners of those games will play for the district title Saturday night. All games are in Menno.

Irene scored four runs in both the second and third innings en route to a 16-3 win over Freeman in the second round of the District 6B Amateur Baseball Tournament in Menno Sunday night, July 26. The loss ends the 2020 season for the Blacksox, who entered the postseason as the No. 6 seed in the South Central League. Irene, the No. 7 seed, plays again Thursday night for a chance to advance to the state tournament. 

The Freeman Blacksox and their fans are hoping these bats heat up as the local amateur team faces Irene in a District 6B Amateur Tournament elimination game tonight in Menno. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Freeman is the No. 6 seed and finished the regular season 7-11; Irene is No. 7 and finished 3-15. The two teams split in two games during the regular season, with the Cardinals winning 11-4 on June 19 and the Blacksox winning 9-2 on June 21. The winners of Sunday's game will play for a spot in the state tournament next Thursday.

This undated photo comes courtesy of Kevin Smidt, whose grandfather, Harry, is pictured on the left. Standing next to him is Harold, a cousin. The other Smidt pictured, Nels, is either an uncle or another cousin. Kevin Smidt believes this photo was taken near the intersection of Highways 18 and 81, because the young men pictured here lived in that neighborhood; “There must have been a ball field there,” he said.