Businesses, organizations, groups and individuals who would like to help support the Class of 2023 from Freeman Academy, Freeman Public and Menno may do so by sponsoring a graduate in another banner salute that will begin in May and continue through June. Fifty-seven seniors from the three schools — and their sponsors — will be highlighted on banners displayed on Sixth Street in Freeeman and on Fifth Street in Menno.

The Courier is making this story available for free to all. If you support this type of community journalism, please consider signing up to receive the award-winning Freeman-based weekly newspaper. Call 605-925-7033 for more information.  

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Maybe it’s because of the time of year or maybe it’s because of the increased cost of eggs, but Freeman Mayor Michael Walter told the Freeman City Council at its most recent meeting last week that he has been asked my multiple people whether raising chickens in Freeman city limits is permitted. No, the mayor said at the first of two regular monthly meetings held Tuesday, April 4: “You cannot have chickens in town.”

Challenger Joel Rempfer was the top vote-getter with 108 ballots cast in his favor and incumbent and current board president Jon Schempp was second with 79 in a close election among four candidates for Menno School Board Tuesday, April 11. Rempfer and Schempp will begin a new term this year. Challenger Jackie Vaith was third in Tuesday's election with 77 votes and Molly Huber drew 66 votes. Voter turnout was 16.5%, with 176 of the 1,066 registered voters weighing in.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER It was eight years ago that Freeman Academy instrumental instructor Donna Ries was standing outside a contest room with Brennan Haggerty, waiting for him to play his tuba solo. She was talking to the late Gene Kaufman, an enthusiast for music in general and brass, specifically, about the poor condition of the old Yamaha tuba that was part of the school’s inventory and that Brennan was playing, and what could be done about it. After all, a good tuba isn’t cheap.

Maurice Waltner, who began his first four-year term as Hutchinson County Sheriff in January, is pictured in the county police pickup on Tuesday. Waltner was in Freeman for The Courier's 5-Minute Interview, which is published in the April 6 edition. Below is a sampling. To read it in its entirety, check out this week's issue available online to subscribers later today and in print tomorrow. The first three months have been … Exciting. Not overwhelming, but busy. What’s your department’s primary focus?

The theater department at Freeman Public School is preparing “The Lion King Jr.” for a performance at the Freeman High School gym next Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15 starting at 7:30 p.m. each night. It is under the leadership of artistic director Iwona Lewter, music director Sonja Waltner, technical director Sheila Wipf and student assistant Rylie Gossen, and features a cast of 15 and a company of 34 more.

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.