We are put on this earth to serve. It is that closely-held conviction that has led Sam Sorensen to active work in his church and other causes he believes in: to a management role with his wife, Linda, at the Bethany Food Pantry; to the organizer of the Freeman Fishing Derby; and to volunteer with the Freeman Lions Club, of which he is finishing his term as president.

Michael Walter will be Freeman’s next mayor.  The local businessman won the seat over Terry Waterman in the Freeman City/School Election held Tuesday in conjunction with the June 2 Primary Election. Walter drew 259 of the 400 votes — about half of which were filed by absentee voting — for 64.5%. He will take office next Monday, June 8. Voter turnout for the city election was at 45.5%, with 403 of the 886 registered voters living in the city of Freeman weighing in.

When the cast of “Matilda the Musical” gathered for rehearsal on Thursday night, March 12, absent was the star of the show, Sonora Myers, the 14-year old cast in the title role. She had fallen ill and was running a fever and her parents, Aaron and Consuelo, made the decision to keep her home that night from practice for the 2020 Schmeckfest musical. With concerns about COVID-19 mounting, Consuelo said she proceeded with an abundance of caution. “I guess I’m a rule follower,” she told the Courier. “I was trying to be respectful and trying to keeping the rest of the cast healthy.”

Here is something you need to know about Menno’s Jim Sattler: The guy was a heck of a track coach. Shortly after his arrival at Menno High School in 1983, the Avon native quickly recognized both a need for improvement within the program and the potential that lay within a younger group of boys that would soon be coming up through the ranks. 

It was neat to see how the three schools we cover — Freeman Academy, Freeman Public and Menno High School — pulled off graduation last weekend. Some districts didn’t even hold a commencement, so that our students got a chance to be recognized as scheduled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is noteworthy. Congratulations to the schools for pulling it off and the students for earning their high school diploma. It truly is one of life’s true mile markers.

Millions of American schoolchildren, including tens of thousands in South Dakota, are suffering a loss of learning and reduced exposure to instructional rigor now that schools across the country have closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The novel coronavirus has done plenty to disrupt lives around the world, from the relatively small inconvenience of not being able to gather in large social settings to the worst of it all — death from COVID-19, which as of Tuesday morning had claimed more than 171,000 lives worldwide, more than 43,000 in the United States and eight in South Dakota. To say our lives have been interrupted is an understatement.

Arthur W. Ulmer, age 93 of Menno, S.D., passed away on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at the Menno-Olivet Care Center in Menno. Due to current healthcare precautions, there will be private graveside services for Arthur at the Menno Cemetery in Menno, with the Rev. Theresa Jacobson officiating. Military Honors will be accorded by Rames-Bender American Legion Post 152 of Menno and the SDARNG Honor Guard. Arrangements are under the direction of the Aisenbrey-Opsahl-Kostel Memorial Chapel in Menno.

Loss of advertising and circulation revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic are putting some South Dakota weekly newspapers on the brink of closure. Here is South Dakota News Watch reporter Bart Pfankuch with a report. The financial crisis for the state’s roughly 110 weekly newspapers hit home in April when the owner of the papers in De Smet and Lake Preston decided to close them after nearly 140 years in operation.

Ordinarily, the Courier would be giving ample space in this week’s issue to Sunshine Week, the annual observance recognizing the vital role newspapers play in covering local government and holding our elected officials accountable.