JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Menno’s newest family business is taking its show on the road. Roamin’ Roast, a traveling coffee trailer, is operated by Diedra Mettler and other members of the Mettler family — the same Mettlers who have Mettler Implement.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER It will be a 48-hour, double dip of delight as the communities of Freeman and Menno use the backend of a long holiday weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July. Activities are planned at the Freeman baseball/softball park complex Sunday afternoon and evening, July 3, and a full slate of to-dos are planned in Menno throughout the day on Monday, July 4. Here’s what to expect. In Freeman

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Freeman Mayor Michael Walter is expected to recommend an appointment for a vacant Ward 3 seat after Doug Uecker resigned from his position at the table when the Freeman City Council met in regular session last week Tuesday, June 21. Uecker stepped down because he has moved out of Ward 3. Walter did not identify his recommendation by name but told The Courier early this week he has spoken with a person who is interested in filling out the remainder of the first year of Uecker’s two-year term.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Anybody who has visited downtown Freeman in the past month knows that navigating the streets has been a challenge. With the city’s $5.1 million Main Street project now well underway, four blocks are closed to vehicles — from Fifth Street north to Railway and from Railway southwest to Juniper. Parking is available on side streets and alleyways adjacent to Main Street and pedestrian traffic is being maintained in front of all business storefronts.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER The Freeman Community Development Corporation and other local groups are gearing up to welcome bicyclists from Ride Across South Dakota (RASDak) to Freeman this coming Saturday, June 11, and the entire community is welcome to join in the fun.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Voters living in Hutchinson County will elect a new sheriff and weigh in on a number of other national, state and district races — as well as Constitutional Amendment C — in the 2022 primary election next Tuesday, June 7. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Candidates for sheriff are Maurice Waltner, a Hutchinson County deputy; and Barron Nankivel, emergency manager for Hutchinson County. Both are Republicans. The winner of the June 7 election will replace outgoing sheriff Jim Zeeb, who is retiring.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Rylee Peters was eight years old when Raygen Diede qualified for her first State Track Meet — the discus competition of 2018. In the years since, both have grown up a bunch. Diede, who just finished her senior year at Menno, has been among Class B’s top throwers in both the discus and the shot put while Peters, who will be an eighth grader at Freeman Public in fall, has quickly emerged as a star on the rise in the hurdles.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Ten seniors from Freeman Academy took their turn crossing the commencement stage and received their high school diplomas in a graduation marked by humor and poignant perspective from speaker Nathan Epp. Epp, the outgoing head of school at Freeman Academy, focused his comments on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit during the Class of 2022’s sophomore year.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER This week Friday, students at Freeman Public Schools will say goodbye to their classrooms, their teachers and their friends they won’t see much of during the summer break. For 13-year-old Kahlen Salis, those goodbyes have already been said and came on Wednesday afternoon, April 27 — one day before the seventh grader finished her schoolwork and made a temporary move to St. Louis with her mom and dad to be closer to a medical treatment that could save her life.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER What was finally an ideal day for a track meet meant an extra bounce in the collective steps of more than 700 student-athletes from 18 schools taking part in the Flyer Invitational hosted by Freeman Public Thursday afternoon and evening, April 21.