Thor Aanenson, a freshman at Freeman Public, presents "The Good News on Poverty" in the Non-Original Oratory division at the 2022 State Oral Interpretation Festival in Mitchell Saturday afternoon, Dec. 3. Aanenson received a superior for his data-driven and uplifting presentation, as did Freeman Academy's Jessica Paschal in Serious Reading and Menno's Lexie Hogeland in Storytelling. Also competing was Madelyn Anderson from Freeman Academy and Kaelie Derby and Maggie Miller from Menno. Watch for a full report in the upcoming issue of The Courier.

Freeman Academy oral interpretation coach Michelle Fink gives some last-minute instruction to Madelyn Andersen before her presentation of "Some people LIKE poetry" in the Poetry Reading category at the 2022 State Oral Interpretation Festival in Mitchell Saturday morning, Dec. 3. Andersen is one of a number of local students performing at the two-day event; Menno's Lexie Hogeland earned a superior in Storytelling on Friday and four others will perform Saturday afternoon: Freeman Academy's Jessica Paschal, Freeman Public's Thor Aanenson and Menno's Kaelie Derby and Maggie Miller.

Santa and Mrs. Claus make their entrance at the Freeman Community Center Thursday evening, Dec. 1 as part of the community's Hometown Christmas/Mistletoe Market celebration. The jolly couple (played by David and Bubbles Mensch) greeted children for more than an hour as people mingled in the space that was used by Freeman Public Schools until 2009, when the new Freeman Elementary opened. In addition to the chance for kids to meet with the Claus couple, Hometown Christmas featured a number of businesses selling their products, other family-friendly opportunities and a light meal.

Linda Von Eye, the office manager at The Courier, sorts toys for delivery to the Bethany Food Pantry. Dozens of toys, games, clothing and other items for children have been dropped off throughout the month of November and, with the help of the Freeman Police Department, will be dropped off at the Bethany Food Pantry Thursday afternoon for distribution on Dec. 2 and Dec. 16. This is the seventh annual Toy Box Toy Drive organized by The Courier.

These four will help lead the Marion/Freeman Rebels on the mat this season, which starts on Saturday in Kimball. They are, from left, Freeman freshman Riley Tschetter, Marion sophomore Emma McConniel, Freeman senior Zac Sayler and Menno senior Owen Eitemiller. A wrestling season preview is printed in the Dec. 1 issue of The Courier.

RJ Arnold carries a shovel down the sidewalk after clearing snow Tuesday morning. As expected, the Freeman area received its first accumulative snowfall of the season during the overnight hours, with Mother Nature leaving a couple of inches of the white stuff across the community — enough for an inconvenience and for some schools, including Freeman Academy and Freeman Public, to call for a two-hour late start.

Jet streams cross in the Monday morning sky as sunlights hits the water tower in Freeman. A nice day is expected, but by Tuesday morning the area could be experiencing the first snow accumulation of the season.

The three Andersen brothers, Quentin, Owen and Nolan, string lights along the front of their College Street home on what was an ideal Nov. 26 day for decorating outdoors. The Andersens, including parents Emily and Mike and other extended family members, weren't alone in taking advantage of the mild temperatures. Others were out and about, too, enjoying the beautiful fall day.

Joshua Hofer sings Scene 2 of "Messiah" — "The Coming Judgement" — during Friday's performance of the classic Handel oratorio by the Swiss Choral Society. The 60-minute concert was presented by the 51-voice choir and accompanying musicians at the Salem-Zion Mennonite Church, where nearly all pews were filled.

With Thanksgiving in the past, thoughts will now turn to the Christmas season, as illustrated by these decorations on the front of the Et Cetera Shoppe in downtown Freeman. The holiday season is also being marked tonight by the performance of the first part of Handel's "Messiah" by the Swiss Choral Society. It was presented at the Salem-Zion Mennonite Church at 7:30 p.m.