Heritage Hall Museum & Archives is planning “Christmas at the Bethel Church” during the full month of December. The historical church, located on the museum grounds, will be decorated for the season and the museum is inviting businesses, churches, families and organizations to sponsor and bring deco...

A project that has been talked about for years but has failed to gain traction has new life thanks to the involvement of a local service-minded organization. The Freeman Lions Club has stepped forward and agreed to help lead the effort to see new baseball/softball ballfields built for youth. The pla...

A special informational meeting hosted by the Marion School Board Monday night, Oct. 16 offered the public its first chance to see a proposed building project that officials say would not only improve the school’s aesthetics and efficiencies, but also carry the district well into the future. As prop...

Residents living in the city of Freeman are facing an upcoming increase in water rates per a new ordinance scheduled for a first reading at the Freeman City Council’s next meeting Tuesday, Nov. 7. The action is being taken to address a deficit in the city’s water fund. City finance officer Lisa Edel...

Dan Flyger isn’t like many around here in that he doesn’t have German blood in him. Not a drop. Rather, the rural Freeman resident traces his roots back to Denmark and his Danish ancestors who were among the first to settle west of Swan Lake in the early 1870s. Flyger’s only association with the Ger...

The Sioux Falls Lutheran Marching Eagles were led by a human-powered steam engine as the band presented a four-song medley of locomotive-themed tunes, the Dakota Valley color guard wore flannel as the band marched to “Country Roads Take Me Home,” the ladies leading the Tri-Valley Marching Mustangs d...

The association representing the state’s newspapers and other news media outlets has changed its name to the South Dakota NewsMedia Association (SDNA), effective Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. For the past 35 years, the association was known as the South Dakota Newspaper Association. “The change in the n...

It was fitting that in the days leading up to National Newspaper Week — an annual observance designed to remind the public of the critical role publications like The Courier play in their communities — I was among a contingent of dozens of community journalists from across the country attending a fl...

This photo summarizes how the last couple of days have both looked and felt across the community. Cool, wet and windy weather has been the norm since Wednesday night, making it feel like the fall season that it is. There is a strong chance of more rain today, all of which will make for ugly conditio...

The history of the Freeman community is peppered with triumph, tragedy and loss which includes a number of memorable and devastating fires. The Sugar Bowl burned in 1922, Pullman Elevator in 1928, Fensel’s Hatchery in 1943, the Bethany Mennonite Church in 1945, the Park Lane elevator in 1955, Fensel...