The Freeman town team is heading to the 2022 State Amateur Baseball Tournament next month. The only question is if it will head to Mitchell as the District 6 champion or Representative No. 1.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Sam Sorensen was late in his first term as the mayor of Freeman when he suggested the city build a Frisbee golf course on the grounds of the Swimming Pool Park — an idea that never materialized. It was only a matter of time.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Laverne Diede didn’t have any notion that she would become a coach. The Scotland native had come to Freeman Public in 1960 to teach sixth grade and took over as the district’s first-ever elementary school principal a decade later. Not long after that she was named girls track coach at the encouragement — no, the strong urging — of the district superintendent.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER It was a small but important thing that offers a glimpse inside the planning that nobody thinks about. Last year, two days before the South Dakota Chislic Festival returned to the Freeman Prairie Arboretum, rain fell across the region and wet the grounds of the community, including the gravel walking path/service road that runs just north of where the row of food vendors would set up that Saturday.

JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Over the course of its nearly three-decade run, from 1993 to 2019, the Freeman Area Children’s Choir (FACC) provided a musical and theatrical opportunity and experience for 327 students from this community and the surrounding area. Among them was Menno native Amber Mehlhaf, who was involved in the FACC for four seasons — from fifth through eighth grade.

The city of Freeman has announced that a portion of Cedar Street near the Westward View housing development will be closed to traffic Tuesday afternoon, July 19 and will remain closed on Wednesday as the concrete work on the roadway gets underway.

This is the framework for one of the extended curbs being built as part of the city's Main Street project. These zero-grade extensions are being included at the intersections of Main and Third and Main and Fourth streets and will provide better accessibility and safety for those visiting downtown.

It’s now just a matter of weeks before the fourth South Dakota Chislic Festival unfolds on the grounds of the Freeman Prairie Arboretum, and a host of board members and other chislic festival supporters have been preparing to welcome thousands of people to the big to-do on Saturday, July 30. But not everything is in place. In fact, there is a major need for additional volunteer power to help run the all-day event, and Anne Pankratz is the one tasked with lining that up. Here’s her take on the need — and the festival as a whole.

Local youth baseball and softball teams are once again on the heels of what was another successful spring and summer season, with strong finishes at both the league and state level highlighting the effort. That includes a state championship for both the 12U boys and 12U girls earned last weekend. Congratulations are in order for all the players and coaches.

Freeman School Board reorganizes Spangler, Podzimek are in; Maske resigns from other coaching positions JEREMY WALTNER - PUBLISHER Cody Spangler and Karissa Podzimek joined the Freeman School Board of education, Emily Andersen was re-elected board chair and Cody Fransen was named vice-chair as the Freeman School Board reorganized for the new fiscal year in regular session Monday night, July 11.