Thanks for Being Here

Originally published on April 1, 2009, in The Forum, Fargo, under the headline, “They will not be forgotten,” and in the Minneapolis Star Tribune under the header, “Couldn’t have done it without them.”

There was Ron from the St. Paul area, who had been here all week. Randy, a sophomore in high school in Apple Valley, Minn., was here, too. He and his father had come up early that morning and planned to return home late that night. They took turns at the sand pile, sharing the one pair of gloves they had between them.

Last week at the Fargodome I met and filled sandbags alongside Ron and Randy and many others, like a group of guys from Kraus-Anderson Construction Company in Minneapolis. I learned that, once upon a time in 1997, KA had an office in Grand Forks; they knew what we faced better than we did.

There were people from Watertown, S.D., Brainerd, Minn. and Fingal, N.D. Even though I caught and passed down the line most of what they threw my way, I didn’t get some of their names or where they were from. But I’ll remember them for a long time.

Same goes for the guy wearing a cap that proclaimed his belonging to a New Orleans fire department. And to the United Auto Workers from Michigan who reportedly received a round of applause when they arrived at the Fargodome on Thursday. Word on the floor was that, since they were laid off, they decided to come lend their work-worn hands to our great effort.

They all had one thing in common: no personal, long-term stake in our fight or the fate of our community. Their only motive was to do the neighborly thing and help save our towns and our homes. They did it vigorously, helping us fill around 3 million sandbags in less than a week, build miles of dikes, make thousands of sandwiches, haul people to hot spots, and on and on.

They also did it with fortitude. Some were here all week, breaking their backs for hours filling bags, hefting them and passing them down lines. They worked harder and longer than many – possibly most – of our own citizens, people who definitely had something at stake like loved ones, homes and possessions. I know they worked harder and longer than I did.

The out-of-towners joined people like Clinton, a Fargoan and architect a T.L. Stroh, and Tim, an associate dean of one of NDSU’s colleges. I also met Deb and her 12-year-old son, Hunter. They had their south Fargo home as ready as it could be and wanted to help in other ways. Their shovel-bag-tie crew included Ron from St. Paul, who had been tying bags for so many days in a row that the skin was worn off of his right pinkie.

During lulls, I asked Ron and other out-of-towners, “Why did you come? What brought you here?” They were humble to a person. “I just wanted to lend a hand,” was the most common answer, followed by, “I just felt like I should be here.”

At the Saturday, March 28 daily city commission briefing, the Red Cross said it was coordinating housing for around 350 out-of-town people who were here to help. I’m guessing there were a whole lot more they didn’t know about. All these folks had safe, dry homes far, far away that they left to come to our aid. It was amazing, and wonderful.

There have been thousands of hometown heroes during the flood fight, but also heroes who have pitched in with nothing to gain. To all of them I say thank you for being here. We might have been able to make the dikes as high, as strong and as fast without you, but I would never want to go back and find out.