Freeman resident Dr. Dennis Epp sets rocks at the foot of the newest bridge at the Freeman Prairie Arboretum connecting the area east of the interpretive center to the southeast portion of the grounds, near the amphitheater stage. Epp has volunteered his time to complete stonework elsewhere at the arboretum, a trade he learned as a Boy Scout 75 years ago. Watch for more on Epp's contributions to the arboretum in upcoming issues of The Courier.

Students and staff at Menno Public School and the larger Menno community will get their chance to celebrate homecoming this week under the slogan, “The Wolves will stun in 2021.” The traditional coronation will formally get things started Monday night, Oct. 12 and a parade on Friday, Oct. 16 will highlight the week. Coronation begins in the old city/school gym at 7 p.m., with the parade starting at 1:30 p.m. This year’s theme is “Roadtrip” — landmarks and destinations. A 1 p.m. pep rally will precede the parade.

Kaylie Schempp, the libero on the Menno High School volleyball team, is introduced prior to the Wolves' match against Canistota Tuesday night, Oct. 6 in Menno. Schempp and the Wolves survived a five-set scare from the one-win Hawks, outlasting them 16-14 in the fifth and final set. The win improved Menno to 5-8. Also in action Tuesday night was Freeman Academy/Marion, which dropped to 0-8 with a 3-0 loss to Andes Central/Dakota Christian, and Freeman Public, which improved to 11-6 with a 3-0 win over Bon Homme.

Second-graders run laps as a warm-up to their PE period at Freeman Elementary Tuesday morning, Oct. 6. Chris Sayler's PE instruction will be featured in the Freeman Public School page that will be part of the Oct. 8 edition of The Courier. The school pages are once again make possible thanks to the sponsorship support of Kelly Knodel and Knodel Contractors. 

This photo from a 1975 packet of photos that is part of the Courier archives shows a band concert by students from Freeman Junior College on the south side of what is commonly known as Music Hall on the Freeman Academy campus. The building was constructed as the original home to South Dakota Mennonite College, which began educating students in 1903.

Freeman grocer Bob Pidde helps a group of boys with the pop machine outside his Main Street store, Jamboree Foods, Saturday morning. Pidde is a second-generation grocer in Freeman; his dad, Ted Sr., owned a smaller store down the street and across the road to the south before Pidde moved into his current location in the mid-90s. 

Clubhouse manager Rory Hermsen, left, and Chad Rembold, who sits on the city's Valley View Golf Course Committee, go over logistics prior to the Fall Souper Golf Scramble Saturday morning, Oct. 3. As many as 22 four-player teams were expected to play in the 18-hole competition, which includes nine pin prizes for the men and nine for the women, courtesy of support from the larger Freeman community. Hermsen said the event will also feature a variety of soups made by local ladies to be enjoyed by participants during lunch.

Loren Tschetter unloads corn in a field owned by his brother, Larry, just southwest of Freeman on a crisp morning Friday, Oct. 2. Tschetter said he was "very satisfied" with his own corn and bean harvest, which he says yielded 40 bushels of beans and 180 bushes of corn. The dry weather is allowing many farmers to complete the harvest quickly. 

For many people who lived in the Freeman area in the 1980s and 1990s, this — the interior of The Cornerstone — is a familiar site. The Cornerstone Steakhouse opened along Highway 81 on September 29, 1978 and was built "to glorify the Lord," according to Quentin Groves, president of the corporation that established the business as both a restaurant and a place for regular gospel music. In its earliest years The Cornerstone was open Tuesdays through Sundays for both noon and evening meals. 

Donna Zeeb holds a scrapbook recalling this history of the Bingaman Store building that served the community of Olivet for many years. Today the building stands on the grounds of Pioneer Acres and serves as the Women's Building during the annual Power Show. Every year there is a new theme/exhibition designed to target the women. "The men have their thing; we thought there should be something for the women," said Zeeb, who helped establish the rotation display in 2001. These year's theme? Hair.