Freeman Junior-Senior High School band director Sheila Wipf leads the instrumentalists through a recording from the film Despicable Me inside Studio 33 in the backlot of Universal Studios Sunday morning - the third full day in Florida on the group’s seven-day excursion. The band’s visit to Studio 33 was part of a workshop that included voiceovers and sound effects by the students and a production of a clip from the movie featuring that morning’s recordings. The group is set to depart for home Monday afternoon and return early Tuesday evening.  

Michelle Milne and Ted Swartz of Ted & Company take part in a talkback with the audience following their Saturday night performance of “We Own This Now” presented in Pioneer Hall. The performance is rooted in the Doctrine of Discovery and offers an engaging look at land occupation and the impact European settlers had on Indigenous Peoples. The performance was sponsored by Freeman Network for Justice and Peace with support from Heritage Hall Museum & Archives.

A gift from above came on Friday as nearly 1 1/2 inches of rain fell across the region, with more expected on Saturday. For a moisture-started region where great concern as been building, calling it a relief is an understatement.

Jonathan Andrew Mendel was born to Sam J and Mary (Wollmann) Mendel of rural Menno, S.D., on April 23, 1931. At a young age they moved to a farm northwest of Freeman, S.D., where he grew up as the oldest of three boys. He received his high school diploma from Freeman Academy in 1949.

Most of the group of students and chaperones gather for a photo at a welcome center after crossing into Florida early Thursday afternoon. Freeman music students checked into their their hotel accommodates later that afternoon and spent the rest of their day swimming in the outdoor hotel pool, making a run to Target across the road and finding food (via either DoorDash, making it themselves in their rooms or visiting one of the nearby restaurants like Five Guys) prior to settling in for the night.

This is map that shows all the listings of those who are participating in The Courier's publicized citywide rummages sales in Freeman. A more detailed listing of names, locations and, in some cases, specific items, is included in the classified section published in this week's Area Wide Connection and Courier. A map and that listing will be available from The Courier office and both Freeman grocery stores starting Thursday. Sales will take place Friday and Saturday of this week.

Courier Publisher Jeremy Waltner is blogging about the Freeman Music Department's trip to Florida June 7-13. A link is published below. Note: If this is your first time reading, the continuous entries are displayed from newest to oldest, so readers may want to scroll down and start from the beginning. CLICK HERE TO START READING

Students, teachers and chaperones are just minutes away from departure for Orlando, Fla., Wednesday morning, June 7 for their seven-day excursion, much of which will be spent at Walt Disney World. Below is the story about the trip that appears in this week's Courier.   FREEMAN TO FLORIDA: An ultimate field trip Ever since March of 1985, music students from Freeman Junior-Senior High School have taken semi-regular excursions to Walt Disney World in Orlando for a different kind of education. They are again this week.

Kade and Kyle Schievelbein, brothers with Construction Signs, Inc., out of Sioux Falls, paint markings at Main and Fourth streets in downtown Freeman Tuesday morning. Many of the new lines being painted will replace the original markings that have faded since the trim work was done on the city's new roadway.

This photo was posted on Facebook as part of Heritage Hall Museum & Archives' weekly "Monday on Main" feature with the accompanying text: