Merchants State Bank Field in Freeman will be alive with activity each of the next four nights as the VFW 16U Region 4B tournament comes to town. Action begins at 5 p.m. with Tyndall facing Salem followed by Freeman/Marion taking on Parker. Games continue at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday, 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. (if necessary) on Thursday. In addition to the four teams playing Monday night, Region 4B includes Scotland/Menno, which will play its first game at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The 14U Sticks bounced back from a 6-0 semifinal loss to Mt. Vernon/Plankinton with 13-0 win over Platte-Geddes in the third-place game of the S.D. VFW State Tournament held in Corsica over three days starting Friday. Freeman/Marion scored three runs in both the first and second inning to build an early lead, and pitchers Riley Gall Tayden Kerrigan and Easton Tschetter teamed up to pitch a two-hit shutout. The Sticks finished with 16 hits, with Gall going 3-for-3 and Kerrigan going 3-4; the two combined for five RBI.

The Freeman/Marion 14U Sticks came up short in their bid for the state championship game Saturday afternoon, falling to Mt. Vernon/Plankinton 6-0. Titans pitcher Tyce Feistner held the Sticks to hour hits, and Freeman/Marion committed three errors in the field to take the loss. The Sticks are now 15-3 and will face Platte-Geddes in the third-place game at 1 p.m. Sunday.  Mt. Vernon/Plankinton and Parkston will square off for the championship at 4 p.m.

A bidder holds up her number at the live auction portion of the South Dakota Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale held in the Pioneer Hall dining area Saturday, July 22. A nice crowd filled the space for the activities of the day, which in addition to the live auction featured a silent auction, several venders and a lunch that featured something for everybody. Watch for a full report in the next issue of The Courier.

Beth Bontrager prepares fruit for the fruit salad that will be one of the optional sides at Saturday's South Dakota Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale being held in the dining area of Pioneer Hall. Action will pick up around 11 a.m. when a host of activities begin, from vendors and a silent auction to the spread of foods for the meal. And the sale will feature a live auction beginning at 1 p.m. All activities are taking place in the lowest level of Pioneer Hall.

The Sticks had no trouble in the opening round of the South Dakota VFW Class B 14U State Tournament in Corsica on Friday, soundly defeating host team Corsica-Stickney 10-0 in a game that ended early because of the mercy rule. The Freeman/Marion teener club will face Mt. Vernon/Plankinton in the semifinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. for a spot in Sunday’s championship game. The losers will play in the third-place game Sunday at 1 p.m.

Dustin Tschetter, a coach with the Freeman/Marion Sticks, is tossed a ball as the team warms up prior to Friday morning's game against Corsica-Stickney in the first round of the South Dakota VFW 14U State Tournament. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. A win moves the Sticks to the semifinal round Saturday at 4 p.m., and a loss would put them in the consolation bracket Saturday at 11 a.m. The other two teams on Freeman/Marion's side of the bracket are Baltic and Mt. Vernon/Plankinton. The other side of the bracket features Parkston and Selby and Clark Area and Platte-Geddes.

This monument at the Menno City Park, near where the railroad once ran, offers one of the explanations of how the towns of Freeman and Menno were named. While the inadvertent mistake by the rail company has never been verified, it is widely regarded as the reason Freeman is not named Menno - a reference to the large Mennonite population they settled in the community. 

With the evening sun casting shadows across the landscape, Valley View Golf Course is pictured on Tuesday, July 18 — the 30th summer it has been in operation since its construction in the early 1990s. This week's Courier carries the final installment of a four-week series on the construction and operation of the course.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Constituents of the Marion School District are getting their first chance to meet face to face — sort of — with the district’s new superintendent, Brian Brosnahan, who started his tenure in Marion this month. Brosnahan introduced himself and provided a look at some of what is happening in the district through the first edition of what is being called “The Marion Minute” on the school’s YouTube channel posted on July 13.