This is all that remains of a machine shed on the rural home place of Stuart Curry and his family, located near the correction curves on Highway 81 north of Freeman. The pastor of the Salem MB Church and his wife and children saw their property decimated by the May 12 storm; all outbuildings were destroyed and the home may have suffered too much damage to be saved. Their story is one of many that The Courier has been collecting as part of its coverage of this historic weather event, which will be available online Wednesday afternoon and in print on Thursday.

This photo was captured around 10:50 p.m. Sunday, May 15 as the total lunar eclipse of the moon was happening in full, creating what is known as a "blood moon." Here's what a story on CNN has to say about the phenomenon.  "During a full lunar eclipse, the moon passes through the darkest part of the Earth's shadow — the umbra. When the moon is within the umbra it gets a reddish hue because blue and green light get more easily scattered by dust particles in the atmosphere and orange and red colors remain more visible, according to NASA."

Soon-to-be graduates of Freeman Public move past class composites recognizing previous students who have walked the halls of the school district, and toward the Freeman High School gym to receive their diplomas in Saturday afternoon, May 14 ceremony. Fifteen students graduated from Freeman Public and 13 walked across the stage in Menno to receive theirs the same afternoon. Freeman Academy will hold its commencement Saturday evening, May 21 in Pioneer Hall.

This American Goldfinch is caught having a morning snack earlier this week. 

This sign north of Freeman bore the brunt of the brutal storm that hit a widespread region late Thursday afternoon, leaving hundreds picking up the pieces on Friday. Damage in towns like Freeman and Menno was caused primarily by toppled trees, but rural areas and farms saw significant damage caused by both straight line winds and what some believe to be tornadoes. Watch for more on what many are saying is a weather event unlike anything they’ve seen before.

Trees are down and reports of rural buildings either damaged or destroyed are coming in following a wicked spring storm that tore across eastern South Dakota late Thursday afternoon, May 12. The Argus Leader reported wind speeds of 84 miles per hour in Freeman and 107 miles per hour at Tripp.

Banners like these honoring the 13 graduating seniors at Menno hang on Fifth Street in recognition of the Class of 2022, which will graduate Saturday afternoon. Similarly, banners recognizing the Freeman Academy and Freeman High School Class of 2022 hang on Sixth Street; like Menno, Freeman Public seniors will graduate Saturday afternoon while Freeman Academy will hold its graduation one week later — on May 21. Today is the last day of school at Menno; Freeman Public dismisses for the year Friday and Freeman Academy is out next week.

Workers with subcontractor Slowey Construction spent Monday and Tuesday, May 9 and 10 tearing up the 200 block of Main Street as visible progress on the city of Freeman's rebuild of the downtown infrastructure is finally being made. Deconstruction will continue moving south to Fifth Street; in the meantime, the remainder of the business district remains open to traffic.

Seniors from Freeman Public and Menno will formally say goodbye to high school this Saturday  afternoon, May 14 when they participate in their respective graduation ceremonies. Freeman Public will hold its 2022 commencement beginning at 2 p.m. while Menno’s graduation will begin at 2:30 p.m. Both will be held in the schools’ main gyms. Fifteen seniors from Freeman Public and 13 from Menno are set to graduate.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER This week Friday, students at Freeman Public Schools will say goodbye to their classrooms, their teachers and their friends they won’t see much of during the summer break. For 13-year-old Kahlen Salis, those goodbyes have already been said and came on Wednesday afternoon, April 27 — one day before the seventh grader finished her schoolwork and made a temporary move to St. Louis with her mom and dad to be closer to a medical treatment that could save her life.