The April 3 landscape that includes Silver Lake and surrounding area shows that ice and snow are still the reality several weeks into the spring season, although considerable melting has taken place. And while the winter weather has been around for what feels like forever — and while another system is moving across the state Tuesday and Wednesday — it appears that a corner will be turned thereafter. Highs are expected to be in the high 50s and low 60s for the Easter weekend.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER “Do people want Schmeckfest or what?” That comment was delivered with enthusiasm from Freeman resident and longtime festival volunteer Susan Schrag around 4:45 p.m. Saturday, March 25, as hundreds gathered in Pioneer Hall, the adjoining Link and Sterling Hall auditorium, waiting to head downstairs for the meal. That’s really all one needs to know about the return of Freeman’s big tasting festival after a three-year, Covid-induced break.

Part 1: Overture My first memory of a Schmeckfest musical came when I was 6 years old. It was 1983 and my dad, age 33 at the time, was directing “Oliver!” and working with Tom Graber on a scene in which Fagin accosts him for asking for more food. The director and title character were near the stage on the north side of the Pioneer Hall auditorium-turned-theater and my dad was telling Tom to make his body fall limp when Fagin, played by LeRoy Epp, grabs his arm and shakes him. It’s the only thing about the 1983 musical I remember, but it obviously left an impression.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER The Menno community has its fair share of annual traditions.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM THE 62ND SCHMECKFEST

Dear Schmeckfest guests, If this is your first time to Freeman, welcome! If you’re coming in for a repeat visit, welcome back!

Editor's Note: This story was written by Jeremy Waltner and first published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Schmeckfest. It originally appeared in the March 12, 2008 edition of the Freeman Courier. Even the state’s largest newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, must have sensed something special was about to happen.

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.