Building a wall Student volunteers from Staples Motley High School helped sandbag, March 26, at the home of Dale and Deb Hausmann of rural Staples, located along the flooding Crow Wing River. Pictured in front is SMHS senior Cydney Hasselberg, Staples World photo by Dawn Schimpp Timbs whose sister's home (Heather Erholtz) was also flooded by the rising Crow Wing. Other volunteers helping at the Hausmanns included the Staples Fire Department, relatives, friends and neighbors. Home owners who have survived the flooding around Staples all are singing the praises of their friends and neighbors who came to their aid.

"It was really emotional to see all the people pull together. People we didn't even know," Margaret Kenyon said. "It was really neat to see all those people helping."

She and her husband Jim Kenyon live just north of the Leaf River, across from Thomastown Covenant Church. Their house is up on a hill, they thought, since it has never flooded in 30 years. Until last week.

"Our house flooded on Tuesday (March 24). The water came up about four feet in our basement. We've been pumping it out since Tuesday."

Students helping in Fargo Staples Motley students Skye Coughlin, Anthony Duhn, Cody Shaffer and Hallie Denning were among those who traveled by bus to Fargo on Thursday, March 26. On the second trip to Fargo, 56 students from Staples Motley High School service organizations including NHS, Student Council, FFA and others, with seven staff members Submitted photo including Superintendent Mark Schmitz, helped sandbagging efforts in a suburban area. The first bus to Fargo included 32 students and two teachers on March 25. On Thursday and Friday, students helped local sandbagging efforts for people located along the the Crow Wing River near Staples. Apparently the Leaf River's ice broke up but then jammed against the bridge just downstream from their home. It formed a better dam than the Corp. of Engineers could have built, flooding the Kenyon's hay shed and horse barn first. Within minutes the water reached to their house. They have a 12 foot retaining wall around the perimeter, she said, and the water came over that in one night.

Help arrived on Wednesday and Thursday, with volunteers putting up a sandbag dike. That kept out most of the water. But the freezing cold water still came through seams in their basement, between the walls and the floor. "It had no place else to go," Margaret said. Similar fates befell her neighbors, she said.

High school students, Staples Fire Department members, neighbors and others just showed up when they could.

Finally, on Friday and Saturday, with their sump pumps running, the Kenyons had time to drive around and see what had happened at other locations.

"My husband and I could not believe all the help. When something like this happens, people dropping everything and helping people they don't even know. Some of my family didn't even know we had problems, yet people showed up. People in Wadena didn't even know we had flooding here."

Deb Hausman, Duff

Erholtz and Scott Odden - all homeowners whose

houses were threatened - all had similar reactions: overwhelming gratitude for the efforts of many people.

"The water never came over our sandbags," Deb Hausman said proudly of the efforts of her family, friends, neighbors and so many other people she doesn't know all their names. "But it did seep into the house through seams in the floor. It wrecked our carpet in the basement. We ran shop vacs from 24 hours a day, two days straight."

How do you keep shop vacs going 24 hours a day?

"By not sleeping,'" Deb answered. "Dales says I'm a little crabbier than normal, and I think he's right."

They were still keeping an eye on ice jams in the Crow Wing on Monday of this week, after going through one of the longest weeks in their lives. This is the third time the river has come up to their house, which unfortunately has a basement walkout.

"We lived here for 15 years and never had a problem. Now we've had three

times since 1997," Deb said,

but she has a great attitude. "It has cost us some money,

but nobody's hurt and lots of people helped us out. The water's gone down so it's looking pretty good."