Because of poor field conditions and the threat of more severe weather, the Menno July 4 baseball game against Freeman — and the fireworks to follow — have been postponed. Both have been rescheduled for Thursday, July 6.

The flag at City Hall is pictured in front of an unsettled sky Monday evening as storms make their way across the region. Severe weather is expected throughout the July 4 holiday. 

Jake Weier, right, and Austin Smidt tend the grills at the chislic stand during Sunday's Independence Day celebration in Freeman, which was once again sponsored by Merchants State Bank and staffed by volunteers with the Freeman Baseball Association. Sunday's celebration was a hot one and featured youth baseball and softball games, as well as teener and a amateur baseball. The 14U Sticks defeated Scotland/Menno 12-2 while the 16U Sticks beat the Trappers 5-4 in extra innings. In the evening game, the Freeman Blacksox lost to Tabor 7-0. The night ended with fireworks. 

Those attending the Patriotic Worship Service in Menno Sunday morning, July 2 joined together in singing the national anthem at the onset of the 10 a.m. service. The traditional acknowledgement of God and country once again took place at the city park and this year included a sermon from Rev. Michael Hecht titled “Holding Forth the Word of Life.” 

With classmate and teammate Penny Schultz looking on, Holly Becker practices her pitching with Becca Schultz at the Freeman softball field Saturday morning. Penny and Holly will both be sixth graders in fall and play with the Rebels 10U softball team, which will play at the state tournament in Sioux Falls July 14-16. A number of local softball and baseball teams will take the field Sunday for Freeman's Independence Day celebration:

Fensel’s Electric, the store that has operated at the corner of Highway 81 and the North County Road (278th St.) since 1963 and specializes in hardware and electrical and plumbing supplies, has been sold to Kleinsasser Heating and Cooling.

“Constantly improving since its inaugural event in 2018.” Those were the words of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as she announced the winner of the state’s Peter Norbeck Excellence in Tourism Innovation Award earlier this year. Saturday, July 29, 2023, will mark the fifth in a series of festivals that have managed to attract state, regional and national media attention while drawing thousands to the small, southeastern South Dakota town of Freeman.

Youth baseball and softball will take center stage starting at 11 a.m. Sunday morning, July 2; Merchants State Bank is once again sponsoring a baseball player-operated chislic stand throughout the afternoon; and the traditional amateur game between Freeman and Tabor will start at 7:30 p.m., followed by fireworks once again being made possible thanks to CorTrust Bank. All of it will mark another Independence Day celebration at the baseball/softball park complex in Freeman. A complete schedule is printed in the advertisement on page 2B. Menno’s big bash

EDITOR’S NOTE: For those hitting the links at Valley View Golf Course Monday, June 26, it was just another beautiful day to enjoy the wide fairways and large greens that help define Freeman’s 9-hole recreational destination located a mile south of town. But in reality it was more than just another day.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Joshua Hauck, who will be a seventh grader at Freeman Academy this fall, stepped to the front of the stage for his big moment. His character, Bruce Bogtrotter, was breaking the fourth wall (the imaginary boundary that separates the actors from the audience) with the following confession: It was he, not Matilda as Miss Trunchbull suspected, who had stolen the headmistresses’ private piece of cake from her tea tray that morning.