Cars are parked on Main Street Tuesday morning, Sept. 6, signifying the progress that has been made on the city of Freeman's $5.1 million capital project. The downtown roadway is open to traffic from Fifth to Third streets, with concrete work finishing up on the one block of roadway from Third Street north to Railway. Attention will then turn to the pouring of concrete from Railway north to the North County Road, as well as the reconstruction of the side streets.

The parking lot at Vermeer Manufacturing in Freeman, which would ordinarily be jam-packed with vehicles driven by employees, sits empty Monday morning, Sept. 5 - Labor Day.

This photo from 2019 shows three former Freeman fire chiefs: Orville Huber, left; Blaine Saarie, center; and Cody Fransen. The image was captured as part of the Day in the Life of Freeman project executed through a partnership between the Freeman Courier and the South Dakota State University Department of Journalism.  Huber passed away on Aug. 20 at the age of 84. A service was held at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Freeman on Saturday, Sept. 3 with the funeral processional led by the Freeman Volunteer Fire Department, on which Huber served for 36 years — 26 of those as chief.

Menno junior Logan Sayler tries to get past a defender from Miller/Highmore-Harrold in 11B action Friday night, Sept. 2 in Menno. Sayler and the Jim River Trappers ran to their first win of the season last night, downing the Rustlers 18-0 to improve to 1-2. M/H-H drops to 1-2. The Trappers offense was led by senior quarterback Kadeyn Ulmer, who ran for a touchdown and threw for another — a 21-yard completion to Ajay Herrboldt. MHH actually outgained Jim River 206-186 in the contest, but the Trappers took advantage of three turnovers by the Rustlers.

The exposed aggregate is being poured this week on the sidewalks of Freeman’s new Main Street, meaning the roadway should be open to traffic sometime next week. 

That's Ryan Robb, head football coach for the Jim River Trappers, during a Tuesday afternoon practice in Menno. The Menno/Scotland football team is featured in this week's Courier, where Robb talks about the team's 0-2 start and the effort being made to turn the tables. The Trappers host Miller/Highmore-Harrold in Menno Friday night while the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix travel to Avon.

It's a gorgeous late-August day in the Freeman community — still, sunny and 78 degrees, per the clock at CorTrust Bank.

Workers from Triple R Paving were back at it Monday morning as they finish up on the main concrete work on the sidewalks and extended curbs. Another subcontractor is expected to begin the middle part of the week installing the remainder of the concrete — a ribbon of exposed aggregate running along the sidewalk closest to the road. When that is finished, the downtown business district will reopen to traffic and workers will turn their attention to the northern stretch of Main Street and the side streets.

Freeman Academy head soccer coach Scott Dent asks his team to regain their focus after a sloppy first half of play in the Bobcats' home opener against Dakota Valley Saturday, Aug. 27. Freeman Academy, which is joined by players from Freeman Public, Marion and Parker, led by 1-0 at the break before responding to their coach's encouragement to away with a 4-0 win. The Bobcats, now 2-1, got two goals from Chris Cardona, one from both Leo Wang and Domani Butler, and an assist from Emma Tuschen. Freeman Academy is home again on Tuesday when they host Sioux Falls Christian.

Chris Cardona gives a thumbs up as he and others with the Freeman Academy soccer program get ready to take the field for the home opener. The Bobcats (1-1) were scheduled to take the field against Dakota Valley at 11 a.m.