From left: Freeman High School's Cami Fransen, Erin Uecker, Emily Mendel and Zenovia Butler and ready for the return serve in their Tuesday night Region 4B game against Irene-Wakonda. The No. 1 Flyers showed a little rust early but hung on for a 25-19 win in the first set before dominating the No. 8 Eagles the rest of the way, winning the next two sets 25-11, 25-12. Freeman moves on to face No. 4 Scotland Thursday night in Freeman for a spot in what would be their fifth SoDak 16 in as many years.

After a three-year hiatus due to Covid restrictions, the Schmeckfest musical is returning to the stage in Pioneer Hall on the Freeman Academy campus. New to the Schmeckfest stage, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “State Fair” is under the direction of Kris Carlson. 

Click here for the gallery. 

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER For those who enjoy this type of thing, last week’s Oktoberfest in Menno was a good-news, bad-news situation. The good news was that the longstanding celebration of German-Russian heritage was back after a Covid-related two-year hiatus. The bad news? A city/school auditorium that had been set up to accommodate a full house was half empty at best.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER This week, for the first time since early May, those passing through Freeman’s downtown business will be able to drive the entire stretch of Main Street. That’s because concrete work on the roadway from Railway Street to the North County Road, as well as curbs and sidewalks, was completed on Monday, Oct. 24.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER The Freeman Police Department is asking the public to be diligent about noticing suspicious vehicles out of safety for others in light of a number of concerning incidents. Last Thursday night, Oct. 20, during the home football playoff game in Freeman, a teenager out for a run in town noticed a black pickup truck following her. Worried, the runner called her mother who in turn contacted Freeman Police Officer Jay Slevin, who was on duty at the time.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Long before her children were even a glimmer in her eye, Suzanne Brockmueller became a state cross-country champion — not once, not twice but three times. After finishing second in her freshman season, the Freeman Academy standout won state titles in 1981, 1982 and 1983. It was a time when the girls were running 3,000-meter courses, and one in which female athletes — especially cross-country female athletes — weren’t getting the attention of their male counterparts.

This story is being made available to all members and non-members of The Courier. If you appreciate this kind of community journalism, please consider signing up for the award-winning newspaper.    by Jeremy Waltner | Editor & Publisher

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER When wrestlers and coaches from Marion/Freeman gather for their first practice of the 2022-23 season on Monday, Nov. 14, they will do so in a place to call their own. That’s because work on The Hangar, a wrestling room that will double as a multipurpose facility, is within weeks of completion on the Freeman Public campus. Freeman Public Superintendent Jake Tietje said it could be turn-key ready by the first week of November. The official completion date is Nov. 10.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER “I couldn’t ask for much better.” That comment from Marnette Hofer summarizes a celebration weekend at Heritage Hall Museum & Archives centered around the reopening of the Ludwig and Susanna Deckert House that has been part of the Freeman museum’s campus since 1979. “It was fun to have a focus like that for the weekend,” said Hofer, who is the executive director and archivist and HHM&A. “It’s also fun to have it done.”