JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Like the flowers of spring, once it started to bloom, there really was no slowing it down. What was originally designed as a one-night, one-time event on March 13, 1959 quickly became something else, and it wasn’t long before Schmeckfest was rolling. A two-day celebration of the community’s Germans-from-Russia heritage followed that first festival, and by 1973, on the occasion of its 15th anniversary, organizers decided to make it a Thursday-Friday-Saturday event.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Cody Roth was with other members of his family preparing for the Angus Roth Ranch 25th Anniversary Bull Sale scheduled for this Friday, March 24 and then moved on to chores when he received a call from his wife, Haley, who had just returned to their rural home north of Wolf Creek Colony. It was just after 6 p.m. Saturday, and their house was on fire.

Sam Waltner, a junior at Freeman Academy, helps set up curtaining inside the Sterling Hall auditorium Monday afternoon, March 20. Activity is picking up across the school campus as students, staff and a host of other volunteers prepare for the return of Schmeckfest. The traditional festival will take place this Friday and Saturday evening, March 24 and 25 for the first time since 2019. Watch this week's Courier for a detailed look at what's in store, as well as a look back on the "disaster" that was the very first Schmeckfest back in 1959.

It's the week of Schmeckfest and the Schmeckfest Ticket Exchange board is beginning to populate. The board is used for those who have tickets to sell, and those who are looking for tickets, and is located in The Link connecting Sterling Hall and Pioneer Hall, where the two marquee Schmeckfest events — the meal and the musical — will take place. The 62nd Schmeckfest will be held this Friday and Saturday, March 24 and 25 for the first time since 2019. Watch for a full preview in this week's Courier.

These small icicles hanging off the stop sign at the corner of Highway 81 and the North County Road illustrate how cold it was on Saturday — single digits with sustained winds making it feel much colder. But it's better today and should be closer to average in the coming week.

This Schmeckfest throwback photo shows the sausage-making demonstration decades ago, when it and other demonstrations were located in the Tieszen Industrial Arts Building — which in 2007 was removed to make way for Sterling Hall. Sausage has been one of the staple of Schmeckfest from the beginning and is among the most sought-after foods. Pre-festival walk-in sales begin today in the Freeman Academy maintenance building from 1 to 6 p.m.

David Graber, left, and Dean Schrag trim chunks of pork for grinding inside the Freeman Academy maintenance building Friday morning. The two rural Freeman men were among a volunteer workforce gathered together to make Schmeckfest sausage — a two-day effort that began on Thursday. This year, 9,000 lbs. will be made of which between 500 and 600 lbs. will be served at the meal. The rest will be sold in bulk over the course of three days.

So this is happening again — another winter storm blowing across the region and brining much to a standstill across the community. Snow and high winds are expected throughout the morning, with high winds continuing into the weekend. Schools and some establishments — including the Freeman Public Library, Et Cetera Shoppe, Courier office and Heritage Hall Museum & Archives — are closed for the day.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Ordinarily, this would be nothing more than a story about a community of friends, old and new alike, coming together to prepare a full-scale musical for Freeman’s traditional Schmeckfest. But because things have been far from ordinary the past three years, this is something else. This is a comeback story.

The sign at the corner of Sixth and Cherry streets in Freeman hints at what's to come — the return of Schmeckfest. The Courier will have comprehensive coverage of the festival starting this week and continuing through the next two weeks. This week's focus is on the musical "State Fair."