JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Kory Foss believes that, when it comes to the wide world of sports, it doesn’t get any better than baseball — a game he calls the “greatest in the world.” It’s no surprise, then, that when Foss arrived in Menno to take over as preK-8 principal and head boys basketball coach last year, one of his first orders of business was working on getting high school baseball started.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Dan Herrboldt, who has been with Freeman Lumber Company for more than 46 years and has been manager of the yard for the past 26, stood before the Freeman City Council last Wednesday, April 7 and shared with city officials his perspective on the housing needs in the community. “I can’t tell you how many times in the last 10 years — even longer than that — that I’ve had people in my office saying, ‘I’d love to build a home,’” Herrboldt told city officials.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER The Freeman Academy/Marion track team is just one meet into the season so it’s too early for coach Suzanne Koerner to fully assess what all the Bearcats will bring to the track this spring, but she knows that the team will have runners to watch.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER Track and field fans from Menno will have their first chance to watch the Wolves from the comfort of their home facility when the Menno Relays comes to town next Thursday, April 15. And there’s a pretty good chance they will like what they see.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER School boards from Freeman Public, Freeman Academy and Marion will meet jointly in special session next week Thursday, April 8 to continue the discussion about a cooperative in boys and girls basketball, cross-country, golf, track and volleyball. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Freeman High School gym and will be streamed on the district’s YouTube channel.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER The 1980s was an extraordinarily difficult decade for the Freeman community. Not only was the farm economy in the tank, but a series of hard-hitting and tragic stories locally littered the timeline. Not to dwell on it, but the litany of tough breaks is worth noting: A fire destroyed a Main Street grocery store, Jerry’s IGA, in 1981.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Downtown Freeman is no longer without a restaurant. Mimi’s Diner, a project of Freeman resident Amy Beck, opened for business Wednesday morning, March 24 in the Main Street building that was previously home to Doc’s Mess Hall, Delicious Flavor Bakery and, for many years, The Kairos. Beck had been pursuing her own eatery since last year and has spent the past month getting the space ready. That has included upgrading kitchen equipment and painting and redecorating the dining space.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER For those missing Schmeckfest and wanting to get in on at least a sampling of the festival, the Freeman Academy parking lot was the place to be last Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20 as the second annual Schmeckfest Drive-Thru unfolded on the west side of Sterling Hall. For five hours each day, vehicles formed a circular line around the perimeter of the parking lot that, at the busiest hours spilled well beyond, to pick up sausage, kuchen and other Country Kitchen items.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER With the proposed rebuild of Freeman’s Main Street beginning as early as 13 months from now, city officials are starting to think about details of the project — specifically what kind of decorative elements should be included in the project, if any.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER No action was taken and no decision was made, but members of the Freeman Public School Board gave a pretty good indication Monday night on where a possible sports cooperative with Freeman Academy and Marion stands: There is support for it, but not enough time to put it in place for the 2021-22 school year. That assessment is based on comments from all five Freeman School Board members at a special March 22 public meeting called to discuss the possible partnership with the district’s two closest neighboring schools.