For many, the reality that summer is drawing to a close is an unsettling prospect. Fleeting are those long daylight hours, those backyard barbecues, the relaxation that comes with camping and boating and the childhood freedom that even adults can still feel. While I harbor some of those thoughts, I’m ready to say goodbye to the days of summer and welcome a new season. Fall is, after all, my favorite of all the months.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER As expected, enrollment at Freeman Public is up again — bigtime. While the official student count won’t be submitted to the state until the last Friday of September, a preliminary look shows that the number of students enrolled with the Freeman School District is up nearly 30 over the start of last school year — 402 compared to 374 this time last year. That growth is distributed throughout the classes, particularly at the junior-senior high school level.

The exposed aggregate is being poured this week on the sidewalks of Freeman’s new Main Street, meaning the roadway should be open to traffic sometime next week. 

The Jim River Trappers were held to just 76 yards of total offense on an average of 2.1 yards per play, and two touchdowns in the first half by Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central was all the Blackhawks needed to come away with a 14-0 win in 11-man action Friday night, Aug. 26. The win improved W/WS/SC to 1-1 while the Trappers fell to 0-2.

As was the case in the season opening game at Burke one week earlier, Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy used a strong second half to slam the door on their gridiron opponent and pull off another inspiring win — this one in Freeman against Iroquois/Lake Preston Friday night, Aug. 26. Leading 12-8 at the half, the Phoenix went on a 32-0 run to emerge with a 44-8 win.

JEREMY WALTNER  -  PUBLISHER On Friday night in Volga, Kadeyn Ulmer took the field for the Jim River Trappers as the starting quarterback — a position he will presumably return to when the Menno and Scotland cooperative reassembles on football fields over the course of the next two months. It’s been years in the making for the Menno senior, who can trace his start on the gridiron, not to junior high football, but all the way to his boyhood years when he took part in Punt, Pass & Kick.

JEREMY WALTNER  -  PUBLISHER The Main Street business district could be open to traffic by the first week of September. If everything goes according to plan, that is.

I first met Kahlen Salis in 2012 when I interviewed her and her family for a three-part series I was writing called “Life & Death.”

The Wednesday morning sun peeks above the trees on the east side of the Freeman Junior-Senior High School parking lot as a steady rain falls across the community. The morning broke with thunder, lighting and a hard shower that quickly dumped as much as an inch-and-a-half in some areas. More was possible later.

Freeman Public School announced late Monday afternoon that there will be no school on Thursday, Aug. 25 so students and staff can attend the memorial service for Kahlen Salis, who passed away on Aug. 16 due to complications from a liver transplant. Kahlen was a member of this year's eighth grade class.  Thursday's funeral will be at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Freeman at 10:30 a.m., with visitation on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the church.