This was the scene inside the Freeman Junior-Senior High School gym early Sunday afternoon as more than 300 young grapplers — ages 4-12 — from more than a dozen schools gathered for the Marion/Freeman Little Rebels Wrestling Tournament. Wrestlers will compete in four divisions: Novice (2010-12), Midget (2013-2014), Bantum (2015-2016) and Tots (2017-After). Action was scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

Saturday morning was another frosty one across the Freeman community, adding beauty to an otherwise tough stretch of winter weather.

It was a beautiful frosty morning across the community on Friday — a stark contrast to the fury that Mother Nature brought earlier this week.

The clean-up crew with the city of Freeman clears the windrow of snow lining the center of Main Street Thursday morning, Jan. 5, and will be turning their attention to the side streets Thursday afternoon. No traffic is being permitted in these areas until the work is done. Today is the first "nice day" since a major winter storm consumed the region starting Monday afternoon and continuing into Wednesday. Sixteen inches of new snow is being reported in both Freeman and Menno.

An already snowy landscape is going to get hit with another round of weather Monday afternoon into Tuesday as a significant winter storm is in the forecast. Totals are expected to exceed 6 inches and could be much higher locally. With the snow lasting into Tuesday and the high winds that are expected, Jan. 3 basketball games are in question and there's a chance of a late start for students returning to school on Wednesday. Heritage Hall Museum & Archives will be closed on Tuesday, with a Wednesday opening also in question. Check back for weather-related updates as they come in.

The 2023 Schmeckfest production team is pleased to announce the members of the chorus for this year’s Schmeckfest musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “State Fair.”

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER One short question. That’s all it takes for Alice Graber to jump into a pool of thought and reflection — a spoken remembrance that lasts an awe-inspiring, uninterrupted 8 minutes and 56 seconds.

It's fitting that on this, the first day of winter, the area is getting hit with another snow event, this one coming with extremely cold temperatures. This photo was taken late Wednesday morning as snow was falling on the Freeman community and temperatures were hovering around zero degrees. Winds are expected to increase later to day and create a ground blizzard and very dangerous wind chills through Friday. This photo was taken looking to the south; Freeman's Main Street runs through the center of it.

The Pioneer Hall auditorium was quiet Monday morning, but it will be alive with the sounds of Christmas tonight as Freeman Academy finally proceeds with Yuletide. The annual holiday meal and music program was originally scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Dec. 15 and 16 but postponed because of the winter storm and its aftereffects — primarily in rural areas. For ease of rescheduling, all ticket-holders for "A Tree-Mendous Yuletide" will be accommodated tonight.

Director Kris Carlson has announced the cast of “State Fair,” which will be presented as the 2023 Schmeckfest musical March 23-25. Tickets are on sale at schmeckfest.com The chorus and production team will be announced at a later date.