Workers with subcontractor Reede Construction continue with concrete work Wednesday as the curb is being set on the west side of the downtown roadway. This comes after the first pathway of concrete was laid last week on the southbound lane of what will be the new Main Street. Project engineer Paul Korn says the first phase of the $5.1 million project — the downtown business district — should be completed the first week of August. 

Merchants State Bank Field in Freeman will see plenty of action over the course of the next three days as the S.D. VFW 14U Region 6B Tournament comes to town. Action begins at 5 p.m. Monday with Canova facing Centerville followed by Canistota/Freeman against Salem. The winners will play Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. with the losing facing off at 5 p.m. A third game on Tuesday will be played at 7:30 p.m. and will feature the loser of the 2:30 p.m. game taking on the winner of the 5 p.m. game. Action concludes Wednesday evening beginning at 5 p.m.

Cars are parked at the St. Paul Lutheran Church for the morning service on the second Sunday of July.

Eight-year-old Finley McCune assembles a school kit at the 33rd South Dakota Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale at Pioneer Hall Saturday morning, July 9. The school kit assembly was one of numerous activities unfolding at the fundraiser that will see proceeds directed toward those in need around the world. A bake sale, silent auction, quilt display and other sales were also underway inside the Pioneer Hall auditorium midmorning on Saturday, with food sales scheduled to begin later this morning and a live auction set for 12:30 p.m.

With the prep work on the main stretch that runs through the Freeman business district completed, workers were making plans Friday morning to begin pouring concrete — a process expected to start around noon. The work will first take place on the west side of the roadway from Fifth Street to Railway, which is expected to take between 4 and 5 hours. Workers with Reede Construction will then come back to pour the west-side curbs on Tuesday and then move to the mainline concrete on the east side of the roadway starting Wednesday.

Andre Eisenbeis helps a customer with her zucchini at the Freeman Farmer's Market Wednesday evening, July 6. This year's market has been operating from the Swimming Pool Park since late spring and will return every Wednesday through October. Hours are 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Strong winds late Tuesday afternoon split this tree in front of the Jim and Sue Rigo home on Cherry Street and took down a fair amount of other limbs and branches around town. The storm that passed through eastern South Dakota yesterday is being classified as another derecho, although it didn't have the power or the drama of the one that struck in May. While the winds created a mess, the system included much-needed moisture; the Freeman community is reporting about 1.50 of rain in town, with varying amounts in rural areas.

This is how it looked at the Lily Pad, Menno's baseball field, the night of July 4 as scores of people came out for the traditional Independence Day game between the Mad Frogs and the Freeman Blacksox. Freeman came out on top 21-10 in the slugfest.

As dark closes in, Lawson Hall, right, and Myles Miller sit atop a pickup cab waiting for the fireworks show to begin. It was the end of a warm but festive Independence Day celebration in Freeman Sunday, July 3 as the community marked the occasion in its traditional way — with youth softball and baseball games, chislic, other concessions, amateur baseball between the Blacksox and Tabor Bluebirds, and the light show to cap the night.

Emily Hofer sets out Freeman Blacksox merchandise in advance of today's big celebration in Freeman marking the Independence Day weekend. This will get rolling late this afternoon with youth ball games beginning at 11:30 a.m. Chislic sales will start at 12 p.m. and baseball and softball action will continue throughout the day. Here's the updated schedule. All games are inner squad scrimmages and on the little field unless otherwise noted. 11:30 a.m. - 6u softball  12:30 p.m. - 6u/8u boys 1 p.m. - 14u Sticks vs. Scotland/Menno (Merchants State Bank Field)