A small group of volunteers, including Luke Allison, Dennis Lehmann and Abraham Cadillo, were working together Wednesday morning to plant 36 roses at the Prairie Rose Amphitheater that is part of the Freeman Prairie Arboretum. It's all part of ongoing maintenance, upkeep and improvements at the 40-acre spot that, this year, is marking 25 years since plans for the arboretum were first announced. Allison is a 2018 Freeman Academy graduate, and both he and Cadillo are recent graduates of Hesston College in Hesston, Kan., who are spending a bit of time in Freeman this summer.

Band members at Menno High School stand as they play the national anthem at the community Memorial Day service at the Menno Cemetery Monday morning, May 29. The 40-minute observance included music, a keynote address from a veteran of the Army National Guard and the reading of the Honor Roll acknowledging the 367 military men and women who have died from the larger Menno community.

Scott Peterson attaches an American flag to a pole at the Freeman Area Veterans Memorial over the weekend. The flags are being displayed in observance of Memorial Day and will remain up for much of the summer.

Freeman High School senior Kate Miller runs to the finish line to greet her teammates immediately following the 4x100 preliminary during the opening day of the three-day state track meet Thursday. Miller and the three other runners — Makenzie Scharberg, Rylee Peters and Zenovia Butler — won their heat with another personal best (15.66) and will compete in the 400-meter final Saturday with the third-best time in the field. The Flyers will also be looking to qualify the 4x200 for Saturday's final, with that prelim set for 10:30 a.m. today.

This was the scene at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls Thursday morning in the opening moments of the 117th South Dakota High School Activities Association State Track Meet, which will continue of the course of the next three days and feature athletes from 2,771 athletes from Class B, A and AA schools. Freeman Academy/Marion, Freeman Public and Menno are well-represented and featured in nearly every Class B event, with the Menno boys holding the best chance at a strong team finish. Watch for updates later tonight and throughout the course of the following days.

This was the scene at the Freeman softball field Tuesday evening, May 23 as the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix hosted Viborg-Hurley in the high school softball SoDak 16. As the higher seed, the No. 8 Phoenix hosted the No. 9 Cougars but ended up on the losing side of a 13-6 score. F/M/FA finishes the SDHSAA's inaugural season of sanctioned softball with a 5-11 record.

Erin Uecker, who is co-managing the Freeman Swimming Pool with Kate Miller this summer, cleans shelving inside the bathhouse Tuesday morning. An open house at the local summer hotspot will be held Tuesday, May 30 starting at 4:30 p.m. to allow families to purchase season passes, and the first day of the season is scheduled for Thursday, June 1.

Easton Tschetter looks home after getting the runner out at second base during Canistota/Freeman/Marion's Region 1B game against Dakota Valley in North Sioux City Sunday afternoon, May 21. Also pictured is shortstop Tayden Kerrigan. The No. 7 Sticks fell to the No. 2 Panthers 8-3 to finish their first-ever varsity season with a 5-7 record. Also in Region 1B action on Sunday, the No. 4 Scotland/Menno Trappers lost to No. 5 Parkston 8-1 to see their season come to an end with a 9-5 record.

Angelyn Allison and the Freeman Academy Class of 2023 are pictured on the Pioneer Hall stage during graduation Saturday afternoon, May 20. This has been a commencement weekend for a number of schools and communities, including FA — where 11 seniors said goodbye — and at Marion — where nine seniors closed out their high school careers.

The setting sun this past Thursday had an eerie feel to it due to wildfires in Canada. The smell of smoke and haze in the air was a reality starting that morning and prompted the US Environmental Agency to issue a warning through its Air Quality Index for the Great Plains and Midwest.