An excavator is used to remove huge sections of sidewalk Monday, May 23 as good progress continues to be made by Slowey Construction. Tuesday morning marked the road closure of the third and final block of Main Street being rebuilt as part of the first phase of the 2022 project, mean the downtown roadway from Fifth to Railway is now closed to vehicles. Businesses remain open and sidewalk access remains in place for pedestrians. 

Workers and equipment being used by Slowey Construction returned to work on Freeman's Main Street project Monday morning, May 23 as deconstruction of the roadway continues from north to south. Utilities are also being installed on Railway — the first street to be torn up — and soon the final block of the business district will be close to vehicles.

Nathan Epp, outgoing head of school at Freeman Academy, channels his inner David Letterman and reads a top 10 list — complete with the card flip — during his address at Freeman Academy's commencement Saturday evening, May 21. Epp's list focused on the 10 things the graduating class learned from the pandemic, which was the subject of his address. Ten seniors who made up the school's Class of 2022 received their diplomas. 

This photo shows Main Street looking north from Fourth Street as it was in 1928, almost 30 years before the roadway would be paved. The building pictured on the right is currently home to Vintage Vault Floral and Fashions. The 300 block of Freeman's downtown corridor is currently torn up as part of the city's Main Street project; workers will move the next block to the south in the days to come as deconstruction continues.

Raygen Diede, one of the state's top throwers and a senior at Menno, prepares to give the shot put a heave at the 2022 Region 5B Track Meet in Gayville Thursday, May 19. Diede won both the shot put and the discus as the Menno girls finished third in the team standings. Click here for a full recap.

Workers with Slowey Construction moved from the 200 block and into the 300 block this week as deconstruction of the downtown roadway continues. Main Street is now closed to vehicles from Railway south to Fourth Street, and when work makes its way into the 400 block, the entire business district corridor will be closed to vehicles. Pedestrian traffic on sidewalks and access to businesses remains in place.

This photo was taken by Seth Loofbourrow from the Loufbourrow family home south of Marion Tuesday evening, May 17. The beautiful double rainbow came two nights after a spectacular lunar eclipse that produced a "blood moon" and five nights after a historic storm tore across eastern South Dakota. 

Note: The Courier is making this available to all members and non-members alike. If you support this type of community journalism and are not currently a member, please consider becoming one. Benefits include emails delivered directly to you that includes content not available anywhere else.   A SPECIAL REPORT BY JEREMY WALTNER  |  EDITOR AND PUBLISHER de·re·cho /dā rā CHō/

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER A trio of valedictorians stood at the lectern on the Freeman High School gym stage to give thanks, offer advice to the students coming up through the ranks behind them, reflect on their class and the memories they made together, and provide perspective on a journey that had come to an end.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Thirteen seniors said their formal and collective farewell to Menno High School on Saturday afternoon, May 14 in a graduation ceremony that was marked by humor, reflection and sense of appreciation for the time they spent at the school to which they were saying goodbye.