The greater Freeman community is feeling the sting and impact of sudden loss this week following the automobile accident that claimed the life of Dennis Schrock Sunday night. Schrock died at the intersection of 280th St. and S.D. Highway 19 when the westbound vehicle he was driving collided with a southbound minivan. He died at the scene, according to a report from the Department of Public Safety. He was 71.

I love the story about Kent Mettler and the bell he purchased from a seller in Tyndall not long ago. You can read it on the front page of the second section of this week’s Courier, or by clicking here.

Early this week, school officials from Freeman Public released their plan to return to in-person instruction when the 2020-21 school year begins on Aug. 19, and it’s impressive. The 28-page document includes a letter from Superintendent Kevin Kunz, an explanation about how and why the district arrived at its conclusions, local data and plenty of documentation from two key players in the return-to-school process — the South Dakota Department of Education and the South Dakota Department of Health.

Given everything we learned at the Freeman City Council’s July 27 meeting, there should be no question of whether the city of Freeman should rebuild Main Street from the downtown business district all the way to the North County Road. It absolutely should, and there’s no better time to move forward with what would be a major infrastructure project than now.

On July 17, John R. Lewis died at the age of 80. He was a U.S. Congressman for Georgia for over 30 years until his death. His most important legacy was speaking out and actions for civil rights for black people in the U.S.A.

To return to the classroom or not to return to the classroom? To wear a mask or not to wear a mask? How many people in a classroom is too many? And how to handle lunch?

Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. Many-way meat balls. Heartbreak chili. Scotch eggs with sausage. Frito corn salad. Impossible pumpkin pie. Pawhuska cheesesteaks.

One year ago, discussions were taking place in some circles in and around Freeman about the idea of improving the youth baseball and softball experience for what has been a robust Summer Recreation Program.

To The Community Senior Citizens: The Senior Citizen Center has been going for more than 50 years. The membership at this time is very low. We need your participation to keep it going for the future. Dues are minimal and the coffee is always on. We play games and would be happy to learn new ones from new members. Bingo, potluck and birthday party with entertainment are also some of our activities. Choir will resume on Aug. 10. Come and enjoy singing together. Please consider becoming a part of the Senior Citizen Center. Marlene Herman

The fire trucks left before dark. They arrived back at 9:45/10 p.m. Time to go home: Oh, no! Everything has to be ready to go in case we need them again. Everything clean, put in place and used items replaced. Because there will always be a next time and maybe it will be right away. Freeman, we are so blessed to have such well-trained and willing volunteers who put their time and lives ahead of everything else in order to protect and serve us.