Seventh graders Brody Sorensen, Pete Rembold, Karson Podzimek and Noah McGee (a new student from Brandon) work to set up their laptops on the first night of Freeman Public's back-to-school open house Monday, Aug. 15. Students and families in grades K-8 were invited to come to the school and get checked in for the 2022-23 school year that starts on Wednesday. Students in grades 9-12 will do the same Tuesday night.

A steady drizzle of rain has been falling on and off Monday morning, bringing badly-needed relief to a moisture-starved region; about 0.70 had fallen by 11 a.m. Rain was expected to continue through the day, with a chance into the evening hours.

Among the activities at Saturday's Freeman Volunteer Fire Department Firehouse Rib Cook-Off was a kids water fight, which like all others doings took place at the Freeman Swimming Pool Park. It was a perfect day for the fundraiser and hundreds flocked to the park grounds to enjoy food, fellowship and a lot of fun, all in support of the local fire department. Watch for a full recap in the upcoming issue of The Courier.

Brett Luff, who is cooking with Bob Wollmann, prepares racks of ribs for the smoker at the Freeman Swimming Pool Park Saturday morning, Aug. 14 in preparation for the ninth annual Freeman Volunteer Fire Department Firehouse Ribs Cook-Off.  Twenty five cooks are taking part in this year's fundraiser, which includes fire departments from across the region. Serving begins at 5 p.m. both on site and for takeout (700 racks of ribs and 600 lbs. of brisket will be sold), with other activities taking place throughout the afternoon.  

Trevor Schaeffer operates a lift along a sidewalk on Fifth Street in Menno late Friday morning. Schaeffer works for Ken's Electric, which once again supplied the ride to remove the Class of 2022 banners hanging on the light polls along Menno's primary downtown business district. Ken's Electric has also helped hang the banners each of the last three years. The banners are now available for pickup at City Hall; Freeman's came down last week and are available at City Hall, as well.

Freeman High School sophomore Emily Mendel delivers a serve on the first day of volleyball practice Thursday, Aug. 11 inside the district's auxiliary gym. The Flyers and other teams across the state are taking to the court one week after football practices began in preparation for the fall prep sports season to come. The first team to actually compete this month will be the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix and Jim River Trappers football teams, which are both in action Friday night, Aug. 19. The Phoenix are at Burke and the Trappers are at Sioux Valley.

Construction workers set concrete panels in place to form the walls of The Hangar, Freeman Public's new wrestling/multi-purpose facility being built east of the Freeman Elementary gymnasium. Each panel includes a concrete exterior with a foam and rebar core, and a crane helps guide each one into the precast footings. The $1.1 million project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

A worker from Superior Sawing and Sealing, a Mora, Minn.-based company, works Monday to blast out dust and other debris that had settled into the joints on the new Main Street roadway in preparation for an asphalt sealant that will be installed in the incoming week. Meanwhile, progress on the sidewalks and extended curbs has been delayed as general contractor Reede Construction waits for the arrival of the crew charged with that task.

Jamison Kleinsasser delivers a pitch for Menno as the Mad Frogs take on Flandreau in their opening game of the State Amateur Baseball Tournament at Mitchell's Cadwell Park. It ended up being the final game for the Menno as the Lakers came away with a 7-2 victory.

Jake Weier, player/manager for the Freeman amateur baseball team, lays down a bunt in State Amateur Baseball Tournament action at Cadwell Park in Mitchell Saturday night, Aug. 6. Weier and the Blacksox held a slight advantage over Lake Norden through the first part of the game, but the Lakers scored four runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to come away with a 5-3 win. Weier reached base four times for Freeman. Menno's town team plays Flandreau Sunday at 11:30 a.m.