Solomon Ortman takes an order from the walk-up window at The Chislic House Saturday night, July 11. Solomon, his brothers Liam and Christian and their parents Will and Sherilyn, have been serving up homemade ice cream from the otherwise closed restaurant the past few Saturdays and Sundays. Chislic was also available this weekend.

Maintenance on the city of Freeman's water tower will begin Monday, July 13 and is expected to last for 45 days. The city announced on Friday that, while there will be no water outage during this time, there may be a reduction in water pressure. Because water reserves will be used, residents are being asked to conserve usage as much as possible during this time.

The city of Freeman begAn maintenance and repairs on the water tower Monday, July 13. The project is expected to span 45 days, during which time water reserves will be relied on. Those receiving water services can expect that water service will continue throughout the duration of the project. However, low water pressure may be experienced at times and there may also be some very brief intervals when there is a lapse in service as reserve water sources are switched.

Sprinklers water the first fairway at Valley View Golf Course shortly after sunrise Friday, July 10. The 9-hole course, located one mile south of Freeman, opened in 1992 and is in its second year being run as a municipality of Freeman.

South Dakota parents trying to return to work after pandemic-caused layoffs, furloughs or job changes may have a hard time finding child care as state day-care providers struggle to survive amid decreased business and increased costs. Day-care centers, preschools and state registered in-home day-care providers were struggling against high costs, slim profit margins and a shortage of workers before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Freeman School District, in cooperation with the Cornbelt Educational Cooperative and Head Start, is pleased to announce a preschool screening scheduled for Monday, July 27 in the morning and Tuesday, July 28 for all children ages 3 to 5 years old.

As part of its ongoing “Small Towns, Big Challenges” series of articles, South Dakota News Watch has visited four small towns across the state that are trying to chart a new course to prosperity. While all four towns — Edgemont, Lake Andes, Lemmon and Webster — are unique, they face many of the same challenges to obtaining growth and prosperity.

The fire trucks left before dark. They arrived back at 9:45/10 p.m. Time to go home: Oh, no! Everything has to be ready to go in case we need them again. Everything clean, put in place and used items replaced. Because there will always be a next time and maybe it will be right away. Freeman, we are so blessed to have such well-trained and willing volunteers who put their time and lives ahead of everything else in order to protect and serve us.

Thank you, Dennis Schrock, for addressing the issue of racism in your recent column. It’s time we all understand this is about much more than police brutality against people of color. For our entire history, there has been discrimination against people of color in every aspect of life: education, health, religion, sports, politics, the arts and law enforcement. We need to educate ourselves about systemic racism and how it affects each of our lives.

Two Canistota/Freeman Sticks teams played at the Yankton Twins Invitational at Sertoma Park Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28, and both found success. In the 12u division Saturday, the Sticks finished runner-up, losing only to Madison 6-4. Then on Sunday, the 10u team defeated Sioux City, Watertown and West Lyon to claim the tournament championship. Both teams will play at the state tournament in the coming weeks.