Brothers Sam and Jack Unruh, ages 8 and 6, work on an activity at the 2024 Hometown Christmas at the Freeman Community Center late Saturday morning, Nov. 30. In addition to hands-on activities for children, the holiday event included a chance to purchase products and items from local and area vendor...

The coldest air of the end-of-the-year season is hitting the community, with highs not expected to exceed 20 degrees through the weekend. But milder temperatures are in the forecast for next week.

Three generations of ladies — Patty Carlson, her granddaughter Olivia Smith, and daughter Shelinda Smith — work Thursday morning, Nov. 28 in the kitchen of the Bethany Church in Freeman in preparation for Friendsgiving. This is the fourth year in a row the ladies have prepared and hosted a free Than...

This week's Publisher's Desk by Jeremy Waltner A Wet Mountain ‘thanks’ Family vacations were the rule, not the exception, when I was growing up. My mom and dad placed high value on travel — they still do — and told my sister and I during our childhood that taking us to places outside of our own, sma...

The game Yahtzee is among the items that have been delivered to The Courier office as part of the Toy Box Toy Drive that continues into next week. The deadline to drop off new, unwrapped items for delivery to the Bethany Food Pantry is the end of the day Tuesday, Dec. 3. All toys, games, clothing an...

This was posted by Heritage Hall Museum & Archives Monday morning, along with the following description: In 1992, Randy Penner painted this magical 1941 Christmas Eve scene which hangs in the entry of the Bethel Church. Adeline Ortman wrote about the joys of Christmases past there, including a memor...

This bluejay enjoys lunch on a cool fall day earlier this week. Just like bluebirds, Jays have no blue pigments in their feathers. Instead, each feather barb has a thin layer of cells that absorb all wavelengths of color except blue. Only the blue wavelength is reflected and scattered, resulting in ...

Kristina Sage presents Tanya Nelson with the National Federation Officials Association (NFOA) 2024 Official of the Year award during the semifinals of the SDHSAA State Volleyball Championships in Sioux Falls Friday night, Nov. 22. Sage was a longtime teacher and coach at Freeman Public and left her ...

The subtle but obvious impact remains from the first snowfall of the season that came in the overnight hour of Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Not much fell, but it was enough to be an annoyance, with white remains still on the ground — and drifts in rural ditches from the winds — heading into the w...

This week's Publisher's Column by Jeremy Waltner, with a photo gallery to follow: When I think about high school theater productions, my mind takes me back to “Charlotte’s Web,” “Little Women,” “The Nerd” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” — four shows that introduced me to the stage...