The cast and crew of Menno's one-act play, "Dark Road," is pictured following their dress rehearsal Monday afternoon. The troupe was one of six to take part in the Region 1B competition on Wednesday and earned a trip to the state festival at O'Gorman next week; the other representative from Region 1B is Sioux Falls Lutheran. Freeman Public also competed. State will be held over three days Feb. 2, 3 and 4. Menno will take the stage Thursday afternoon.

Dustin Randall removes snow from the roof of his Freeman home Monday afternoon, Jan. 25 — a reminder that cleanup from the recent snowfalls continues. And while new snow isn't a reality today, high winds have created difficult road conditions that have prompted Freeman schools to let out early. And — yes — more snow is in the forecast for Friday and Saturday.

This photo was taken in Dead Man's Alley — which connects the south end of Cherry Street with Poplar Street — over the weekend following an overnight fog that turned the landscape into a spectacular winter wonderland. It's been that kind of a winter thus far — a snowy inconvenience and beautiful all at the same time.

This is this week's "Mondays on Main" Facebook post made by Heritage Hall Museum & Archives. Here's the accompanying information: 

Tabitha Schoenwald, who is the marketing and foundation director at Freeman Regional Health Services, assists auctioneer Ken Wintersteen during the live auction at Saturday night's FRHS Foundation Gala — a major fundraiser for the organization that provides financial support to the local health care service. Saturday's formal event also included a meal, silent auction and keynote address from inspirational speaker V.J. Smith, who spoke of the importance of gratitude and appreciation.

Freeman sophomore Sawyer Wipf battles Menno senior Cody Munkvold in Cornbelt Conference basketball action in Freeman Friday night, Jan. 20. It was part of a doubleheader with the girls that the Flyers swept; the varsity boys won 60-34 to pick up their second win of the season (2-8) while the varsity girls won 62-36 to move above .500 (6-5). There's more basketball action today locally; the Freeman boys will host Kimball-White Lake with the JV game to start at 1 p.m., while the Freeman girls travel to Irene to face Freeman Academy/Marion in the Irene-Wakonda Classic.

It was a late start, but school is back in session following an off-day yesterday due to the latest round of winter weather. And Freeman Public will be the location for a basketball doubleheader tonight between the Flyers and Menno; the boys C game will begin at 4 p.m. followed by both junior varsity games, the girls varsity at 6:15 p.m. and then the boys varsity after that. 

Allen Mehlhaf clears snow from his driveway Thursday morning following another round of winter — this time a 6 1/2 inch snowfall locally that came overnight. With more than a foot of snow already blanketing the community, the latest even only adds to the challenge of snow storage, visibility at intersections and scheduling. The Freeman Public Library and Heritage Hall Museum & Archives are both closed, there's no school and tonight's boys basketball game between Freeman and Menno in Menno has been moved to tomorrow in Freeman as a doubleheader with the girls.

Dawn Stahl, a lifelong resident of the Freeman community, holds up one of the last photos taken of her parents, Dr. Ernest and Elsie Hofer. Stahl is featured on the cover of this week's Courier for a story about a donation she made to the Freeman Regional Health Services Foundation in the name of her father, who was instrumental in establishing the Freeman hospital in the 1940s and early 1950s.

Icy conditions caused this mishap on Highway 81 just north of Freeman Tuesday morning, Jan. 17. Roads are both slushy and slick following another round of precipitation late Monday and into Tuesday, and more is expected on Wednesday as another system is expected to dump measurable snowfall across the area.