JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Participation numbers were down and the fish weren’t biting much, but considering the nature of what organizers were up against, the 17th annual Freeman Fishing Derby held Saturday morning, June 17 is being declared a success. “With everything going on, I was happy with it,” said Sam Sorensen, who notes that the number of registered participants — 49 — was down slightly from last year’s 55, but that was largely due to a host of other activities taking place that day, including three youth baseball and softball tournaments.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER The story of Matilda, a mischievous but highly intelligent 6-year-old who first appeared in a 1988 bestselling children’s novel written by Roald Dahl, will finally be presented to a local audience from the Pioneer Hall stage. “Matilda Jr.!” a theatrical adaptation for children taken from the hit Broadway musical based on Dahl’s book, is being prepared by the Freeman Area Children’s Choir and will be presented this Sunday, June 25. Curtain is at 6:30 p.m. and tickets will be available at the door.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER “I think it’s been a great week. I hope everybody feels that way.” That was the quick assessment from Freeman Junior-Senior High School band director Sheila Wipf around noon on Tuesday as students and chaperones were entering the home stretch of their 30-hour return by charter bus from Florida to Freeman.

JEREMY WALTNER  - PUBLISHER With 21 American flags fluttering in the breeze — each one once covering the casket of a fallen veteran — Shirlene Simonsen read the Honor Roll naming 367 deceased comrades from the greater Menno area. Twelve Mettlers. Nine Auchs, eight Aisenbreys, seven Quasts, six Guthmillers, five Schaeffers, four Haars, three Lehrs, two Langelands and one Seuss, with a host of other surnames and first names acknowledged through the spoken word.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Twenty seniors from Freeman Public and 26 from Menno will walk across the commencement stage and receive their high school diplomas at their respective graduation ceremonies this Saturday afternoon, May 13. Freeman Academy will hold its commencement exercises the following Saturday, May 20, as will Marion. Both of those ceremonies will begin at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Hall and at the Marion High School gym. Here’s a closer look at what’s ahead this weekend.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER As a successful student-athlete at Menno who just keeps getting better and better at her marquee sport, track and field, Ashton Massey has her sights set on the final weeks of the season — and with good reason.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Two local teenagers are facing charges of vandalism through the office of the Hutchinson County State’s Attorney after spray painting bathroom walls inside the visitor’s center that is part of the Freeman Prairie Arboretum.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER It was eight years ago that Freeman Academy instrumental instructor Donna Ries was standing outside a contest room with Brennan Haggerty, waiting for him to play his tuba solo. She was talking to the late Gene Kaufman, an enthusiast for music in general and brass, specifically, about the poor condition of the old Yamaha tuba that was part of the school’s inventory and that Brennan was playing, and what could be done about it. After all, a good tuba isn’t cheap.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER “Do people want Schmeckfest or what?” That comment was delivered with enthusiasm from Freeman resident and longtime festival volunteer Susan Schrag around 4:45 p.m. Saturday, March 25, as hundreds gathered in Pioneer Hall, the adjoining Link and Sterling Hall auditorium, waiting to head downstairs for the meal. That’s really all one needs to know about the return of Freeman’s big tasting festival after a three-year, Covid-induced break.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER The Menno community has its fair share of annual traditions.