These three grapplers will represent the Marion/Freeman Rebels at the State Wrestling Tournament in Rapid City next week. From left: Brody Gossen, an eighth grader at Freeman, will compete at 106 lbs.; Easton Tschetter, a seventh grader at Freeman, will wrestle at 113 lbs.; and Finley McConniel, a sophomore at Marion, will compete at 120 lbs. All qualified at by placing third at the Region 2B Tournament at McCook Central High School on Saturday. Riley Tschetter, a freshman from Freeman, finished fifth and is a state alternate at 160 lbs.

Estelle Waltner, a freshman at Freeman Academy, removes cheese pockets from their boiling bath of water as she and others prepare the popular ethnic food for Schmeckfest Saturday morning, Feb. 18 in the Pioneer Hall kitchen and dining hall. Volunteers were at it Friday evening, too, preparing the ingredients for assembly. Two hundred dozen will be made today, and another 200 dozen will be made next Friday and Saturday. All will be sold at Schmeckfest on March 24 and 25. 

For more than 80 years, this building served students attending Freeman Public School — first students at all grade levels and then, following the opening of the current junior-senior high school in 1975, students in grades K-6. The two-story brick structure opened in 1926 — two years following a fire that destroyed the previous school building located on what is today Lions Park. The building no longer exists; it was razed in 2009.

Kent Mueller is featured in the 5-Minute Interview published in this week's Courier. Here it is.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Just a few Sundays ago, as the church service at the Freeman Missionary Church was drawing to a close, a couple from Illinois showed. They were having car trouble and wondered if there was anybody in town that could offer some assistance. So the church’s longtime pastor, Stephen Roussos, made a call to Blaine Saarie, owner of Saarie Auto Body, on behalf of the Freeman Ministerial Association.

As is obvious in this photo of Bob Pidde clearing snow in front of his Main Street business, Jamboree Foods, the area was hit with another round of weather late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as several more inches of snow, coupled with high winds and cold temperatures, made for tough conditions. Driving was difficult if not impossible late last night (there have been many reports of cars in ditches), prompting schools in Freeman and Menno to cancel classes for the day. Additionally, the city of Freeman's rubble site and Heritage Hall Museum & Archives are closed.

Dawn Walz, owner of Vintage Vault Floral and Fashion in Freeman, prepares an arrangement for delivery Tuesday morning, Feb. 14 on what is among her busiest days of the year.

The sun shines through Old Glory atop the fire and ambulance hall in Freeman on a mild Monday morning. Highs were expected to reach into the mid 40s on Monday before the weather turns; moisture is in the forecast for the next two days, with a good chance of snow on Wednesday.

This is looking south toward what was then South Dakota Mennonite College; the building that is today known as Music Hall is pictured in the distance.

This photo is from 1979 — 19 years after Calvin Kleinsasser started Kleinsasser Plumbing & Heating. The business is now in its third generation of operation; Morgan and Mitch Kleinsasser, grandsons of Calvin and sons of the late Collin Kleinsasser, run the business with their mom, Jane.