It was a beautiful Saturday morning across the area as frost clung to trees like these at Silver Lake north of Freeman.

Freeman Academy/Marion's Thalen Schroeder and Lower Brule's Ellwyn Langdeau Jr. get ready to jump it up at center court at the Corn Palace Saturday morning, Jan. 2 in the second game of the second annual Sacred Hoops Classic. It's one of nine games scheduled for Saturday. Both teams are undefeated.

The world awoke to a new year on Friday morning, leaving 2020 behind with the promise of a fresh start on the horizon. This property is located on the south side of the South County Road in Freeman, across from the Freeman Public School campus.

The final morning of 2020 was a beautiful one as frost covered trees like these just south of Freeman.

Ray Arnold and Caden Waltner walk along Freeman sidewalks, shovels in hand, offering their services to anybody who needs help shoveling following the Dec. 29 weather system that produced about a half-foot of light, fluffy snow across the area.

For the second time in less than a week, the community is dealing with another winter storm. While this one doesn't have the high winds that made for a blizzard on Dec. 23, there has already been more accumulation than last week's paralyzing weather event. The good news is that the snow is light and fluffy and is expected to clear out of the area by the afternoon.

The Menno High School girls basketball team — returning letter-winners are pictured here — was back in action Monday morning, Dec. 28 against Platte-Geddes at the Parkston Classic. The Wolves took a 2-1 record into the game while the Black Panthers went in 2-2. The Menno boys are also playing in the Parkston Classic later today and will face the host school. The Wolves are 0-3 while the Trojans are 1-3.

The Freeman Post Office was one of the busiest spots in Freeman around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 26, and traffic can and went from all directions and vehicles lined both sides of the street. A high volume of packages left delivery outlets like the United States Post Service, UPS and FedEx scrambling to keep up — even past Christmas Day.

It was, indeed, a white Christmas across the region as the Dec. 23 blizzard left the landscape decorated with snow. The impact could still be seen on pines like these on a quiet Saturday morning, Dec. 26. More snow is in the forecast for next week.

A very merry Christmas and happy holiday season to all.