This week, students from Menno High School were scheduled to take part in the Region 1B One-Act competition with their play, “Dark Road.” The cast and crew of 19 includes junior Kaelie Derby, who plays the leading character in the show that offers a hard look at life in Auschwitz in the 1940s. The story revolves around Derby’s character, Greta, who is sympathetic to the Hitler-led effort to torment and execute the Jewish population despite pleas from her sister, Lise, who ends up a victim. Here’s Kaelie’s reflection in her own words.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER The lights inside the Freeman Community Center were lowered, a large illuminated sign saying “Care” sat on the stage, attendees in formal wear enjoyed food and drinks, auctioneer Ken Wintersteen brought his trademark blend of humor and wit to the live auction and acclaimed inspirational speaker V.J. Smith had the full attention of the room as he shared stories about generosity and gratitude.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER Theater students from Freeman Public and Menno were scheduled to travel to Sioux Falls Lutheran Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 25 for the Region 1B one-act competition, with a trip to the state festival the following week on the line. Five students from Freeman Public were to take the stage in “The Tale That Wagged the Dog,” a 30-minute comedy by Tim Kelly; and 13 students from Menno were set to perform “Dark Road,” a short drama by Laura Lundgren Smith.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER A local event that was exceedingly and overwhelmingly popular out of the gate received statewide recognition last week when the South Dakota Chislic Festival (SDCF) was honored with the Peter Norbeck Excellence in Tourism Innovation Award at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Pierre.

This photo was taken in Dead Man's Alley — which connects the south end of Cherry Street with Poplar Street — over the weekend following an overnight fog that turned the landscape into a spectacular winter wonderland. It's been that kind of a winter thus far — a snowy inconvenience and beautiful all at the same time.

This is this week's "Mondays on Main" Facebook post made by Heritage Hall Museum & Archives. Here's the accompanying information: 

Tabitha Schoenwald, who is the marketing and foundation director at Freeman Regional Health Services, assists auctioneer Ken Wintersteen during the live auction at Saturday night's FRHS Foundation Gala — a major fundraiser for the organization that provides financial support to the local health care service. Saturday's formal event also included a meal, silent auction and keynote address from inspirational speaker V.J. Smith, who spoke of the importance of gratitude and appreciation.

Freeman sophomore Sawyer Wipf battles Menno senior Cody Munkvold in Cornbelt Conference basketball action in Freeman Friday night, Jan. 20. It was part of a doubleheader with the girls that the Flyers swept; the varsity boys won 60-34 to pick up their second win of the season (2-8) while the varsity girls won 62-36 to move above .500 (6-5). There's more basketball action today locally; the Freeman boys will host Kimball-White Lake with the JV game to start at 1 p.m., while the Freeman girls travel to Irene to face Freeman Academy/Marion in the Irene-Wakonda Classic.

It was a late start, but school is back in session following an off-day yesterday due to the latest round of winter weather. And Freeman Public will be the location for a basketball doubleheader tonight between the Flyers and Menno; the boys C game will begin at 4 p.m. followed by both junior varsity games, the girls varsity at 6:15 p.m. and then the boys varsity after that. 

Allen Mehlhaf clears snow from his driveway Thursday morning following another round of winter — this time a 6 1/2 inch snowfall locally that came overnight. With more than a foot of snow already blanketing the community, the latest even only adds to the challenge of snow storage, visibility at intersections and scheduling. The Freeman Public Library and Heritage Hall Museum & Archives are both closed, there's no school and tonight's boys basketball game between Freeman and Menno in Menno has been moved to tomorrow in Freeman as a doubleheader with the girls.