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."

This was the scene inside the Pioneer Hall auditorium Monday night as the cast and crew of "State Fair" continue to prepare the Rogers and Hammerstein musical for next week's performances. The show will open Thursday night, March 23 and will continue each of the two night's of Schmeckfest March 24 and 25. Tickets are still available for all performances at schmeckfest.com.

This photo shows one of the interior walls of the blacksmith shop located inside Heritage Hall Museum & Archives. While the shop has been part of the Freeman museum's vast collection for years, the public for the first time this year will have access inside the historic and critical late 19th century/early 20th century business. It's one of many changes HHM&A officials have made the past three years in their ongoing effort to make the museum more organized, informative and appealing to guests.

Freeman High School senior Kate Miller was named to the 2022-23 Cornbelt Conference First Team for her play on the hardwood this past season. Erin Uecker, also a senior, was named to the second team while junior Ashlin Jacobsen was named to the the third team. Viborg-Hurley, which won its second-straight Class B championship Saturday night in Huron, was the conference champion with a 7-0 record.

This photo of the Salem-Zion Mennonite Church, or North Church, was taken during the Christmas season last December. The church is located 4 miles east of Freeman and two miles north of its sister congregation, the Salem Mennonite — or South — Church.