Dominick Crandall, 24, of Freeman passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 24 at his residence in Freeman, S.D. A memorial service is pending for spring 2023.

That's melting, folks, thanks to temperatures that have slowly been rising from the deep freeze and today is in the low 30s. Highs are expected to remain in the 30s for much of the upcoming week, which is good, because there are piles of snow to melt.

This familiar, well-traveled corner in Freeman was once home to Casey's General Store, which opened there in 1978 amid some controversy — specifically, a business selling beer in a residential area. Casey's occupied that corner until the new location opened along Highway 81 in 2013. But the building still stands is today home to the Universal Kempo Karate School. 

A guard associated with Nazi Germany (William Stokes) summons a young women who was caught giving care to a prisoner (Alexis Hogeland) at Ravensbruck, an all-female concentration camp in the 1940s. The woman was turned in by her sister (Kaelie Derby), who takes a job as a 21-year-old guard at the prison; another guard (Josephine Stokes), left, is also pictured. The play was presented by Menno at the three-day State One-Act Festival at O'Gorman High School Thursday afternoon, Jan. 2 and is one of 46 from schools across South Dakota that will take the stage through Saturday.

Rita Hoff, a member of the Olivet United Methodist Church, carries out a to-go order at the church's annual Groundhog Day Pancake and Sausage Feed held Wednesday, Feb. 1 in the basement of the church. Those working at the fundraiser estimate they serve as many as 500 people throughout the day each year, with proceeds going to the missions taken on by the church, or for a need in the community. The event is typically staffed by men only, but for the first time this year, women helped work the event. Watch for a full recap and analysis in the Feb. 9 edition of The Courier.

JEREMY WALTNER - EDITOR & PUBLISHER The one-act team from Menno is taking its spellbinding story of Nazi Germany and the Jewish persecution told through the eyes of two sisters to O’Gorman High School this week after qualifying “Dark Road” for the state festival at the region competition last week. The 13-member cast was scheduled to present its short play Thursday, Feb. 2 at 1:45 p.m. as part of the three-day festival.

The Freeman Public girls led at the end of each of the first three quarters and held a five-point lead with 1:30 to play, but Scotland won the rest of the night — and the game — by a score of 35-33 Tuesday night, Jan. 31 in Scotland.

Varsity girls basketball teams from Scotland and Freeman Public come together for a photo sporting their special warm-up shirts that proclaim, "Women in sports supporting women in sports." The shirts were given to the players by Scheels in commemoration of the 37th annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day," an initiative of the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF). According to the organization's website, "The confidence, strength and character gained through sports participation are the very tools girls and women need to become strong leaders in sports and life.

Menno dropped a home doubleheader against Avon Tuesday night, Jan. 31, with the boys losing 47-26 and the girls losing 62-29.