This was the scene at the historic Bethel Church on the campus of Heritage Hall Museum & Archives Sunday afternoon, Oct. 16 as Dr. Lauren Friesen presents a lecture titled, "The Dutch Golden Age — Mennonite to the Core." In the presentation, Friesen, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Michigan and brother of Freeman resident Marlyce Miller, detailed an era in the Amsterdam region of western Holland (1585-1732) that saw economic stability and comfort for the average person, and in which Mennonites thrived in areas like literature, art and music.

A beautiful fall sestet is pictured Wednesday evening of this past week.

Terry Quam, who is on staff at Heritage Hall Museum & Archives, cleans artifacts for placement in The Ludwin and Susanna Deckert House, which is being feature this weekend through extended hours at the museum and special programming. The historic house that was built in the 1880s has been part of the museum's campus since 1979 and has undergone and complete restoration in recent years. Here's what's happening at the museum this weekend.

Loren and Carol Tschetter are served up soup at the Freeman Regional Health Services Auxiliary Soup Day Friday morning, Oct. 14. Serving began at 10:30 a.m. and was scheduled to continue into the afternoon hours. In addition to soup, the menu includes sandwiches and pie, and a bake sale is being held in conjunction with the longstanding auxiliary fundraiser that dates back generations.

Sheet music sits on a music stand in anticipation of tonight's Pops Concert at Freeman Junior-Senior High School. Both the the band and choirs will perform starting at 7 p.m. in the high school gym. It's the first of three upcoming fall concerts; the Menno Pops Concert is set for Oct. 18 while the Freeman Academy Music Department will hold its 7-12 fall concert on Oct. 21.

Workers are continuing to prepare the side streets for a new roadway in the downtown Freeman area. This is Fourth Street to the west of Main and one of the four blocks adjacent to Main Street that has yet to get a new concrete surface. Meanwhile, work continues north of Railway Street as the new roadway is extending toward the North County Road.

The bell atop the historic Diamond Valley School building is outlined by the rise of Sunday night's Hunter's Moon — the first full moon following the Harvest Moon. The Diamond Valley School building is located on the campus of Heritage Hall Museum & Archives in Freeman.

A nearly-full moon (98.3%) rises in the east at dusk Saturday evening, Oct. 8. The moon will be full this evening before slowly returning to new moon status on Oct. 25.

As expected, Friday night's overnight low dipped below freezing, creating a frosty ground on a sunny Saturday morning. But temperatures are expected to go the other direction in the days to come and reach into the 70s to start the workweek. 

Trumpeters from the Centerville Middle School Marching Band join with the rest of the musicians in performing for the judges at Menno Band Day Friday morning, Oct. 7. The 10 a.m. parade started with an exhibition by the Menno Wolves Marching Band which was followed by 14 others. A drum line battle was to follow at the football field.