Dusk turns to dark in Burke on Friday night as the 2022 South Dakota prep football season opened across the state. Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy paid a visit to the Cougars in what was the first game in program history, and the Phoenix came away with a 34-12 win on the shoulders of a 26-0 run in the second half.

Jim Wright of Triple R Paving out of Sioux Falls smooths concrete near the corner of Main and Third street Friday morning, Aug. 19. After a nearly two-week delay in the arrival of a crew, work began on sidewalk/extended curb installation in the Main Street business district this past week. Paul Korn of Sayre Associates has said that the first phase of the city's $5.1 million project would completed about 2 1/2 weeks after work on the sidewalks got underway.

Terry Waterman, Sam Sorensen and Joyce Hofer work together to announce the winners of the Freeman Lions Club raffle fundraiser Wednesday evening, Aug. 17. It was part of the commemorative opening ceremony of the Freeman Disc Golf Course that opened last month on the southern portion of the Prairie Arboretum. The 9-hole course was a project of the local Lions Club and was built for the community to enjoy. “This is not the Lions Club’s course,” Sorensen said in remarks on Wednesday. “This is the arboretum’s course. This is Freeman’s course.

Students at Freeman Junior-Senior High School gather for an assembly Wednesday morning to make the first day of school. The 2022-23 term is underway at both Freeman Public and Menno, with Marion beginning classes next Monday and Freeman Academy starting Wednesday, Aug. 24.

Seventh graders Brody Sorensen, Pete Rembold, Karson Podzimek and Noah McGee (a new student from Brandon) work to set up their laptops on the first night of Freeman Public's back-to-school open house Monday, Aug. 15. Students and families in grades K-8 were invited to come to the school and get checked in for the 2022-23 school year that starts on Wednesday. Students in grades 9-12 will do the same Tuesday night.

A steady drizzle of rain has been falling on and off Monday morning, bringing badly-needed relief to a moisture-starved region; about 0.70 had fallen by 11 a.m. Rain was expected to continue through the day, with a chance into the evening hours.

Among the activities at Saturday's Freeman Volunteer Fire Department Firehouse Rib Cook-Off was a kids water fight, which like all others doings took place at the Freeman Swimming Pool Park. It was a perfect day for the fundraiser and hundreds flocked to the park grounds to enjoy food, fellowship and a lot of fun, all in support of the local fire department. Watch for a full recap in the upcoming issue of The Courier.

Brett Luff, who is cooking with Bob Wollmann, prepares racks of ribs for the smoker at the Freeman Swimming Pool Park Saturday morning, Aug. 14 in preparation for the ninth annual Freeman Volunteer Fire Department Firehouse Ribs Cook-Off.  Twenty five cooks are taking part in this year's fundraiser, which includes fire departments from across the region. Serving begins at 5 p.m. both on site and for takeout (700 racks of ribs and 600 lbs. of brisket will be sold), with other activities taking place throughout the afternoon.  

Trevor Schaeffer operates a lift along a sidewalk on Fifth Street in Menno late Friday morning. Schaeffer works for Ken's Electric, which once again supplied the ride to remove the Class of 2022 banners hanging on the light polls along Menno's primary downtown business district. Ken's Electric has also helped hang the banners each of the last three years. The banners are now available for pickup at City Hall; Freeman's came down last week and are available at City Hall, as well.

Freeman High School sophomore Emily Mendel delivers a serve on the first day of volleyball practice Thursday, Aug. 11 inside the district's auxiliary gym. The Flyers and other teams across the state are taking to the court one week after football practices began in preparation for the fall prep sports season to come. The first team to actually compete this month will be the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix and Jim River Trappers football teams, which are both in action Friday night, Aug. 19. The Phoenix are at Burke and the Trappers are at Sioux Valley.