Hutchinson kids worked valiantly to fend off flood

Reader Letters - Praise, criticism, and other insights - Hutchinson Leader, April 2, 2009.

From Tony Cain
Oxbow, N.D.

On behalf of all the residents of Oxbow, N.D., we would like to send a truly heartfelt thank you to the bus load of high school kids from Hutchinson that left home at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, to come to our aid during the recent flood fight.

Oxbow is a small community of about 125 homes, 15 miles south of Fargo. On Wednesday morning, all of us were up against some pretty long odds. At the same time, the Coast Guard showed up with three air boats to rescue the 10 families of the homes already lost. The national Guard showed up with heavy equipment and a busload of your kids showed up. It was 19 degrees with 15-mph winds and snowing. With the combination of people from Oxbow, college kids and your kids, they worked outside, without rest, filling, delivering and stacking 20,000 sandbags.

When the flood levels finally leveled off at 4 a.m. the next morning, we had lost only one more house. That entire day was pure madness, but at no time did one of your kids complain about anything and believe me there was plenty to complain about.

Today is Saturday morning and we are completely surrounded by a frozen lake of ice, mud and snow but we are relatively safe as the flood bears down on Fargo today. Many, many times yesterday comments were made on what would have happened if the help including your kids had not arrived exactly when it did. We did not get your names, your ages or how your little bus got from there to here, but we do remember the smiles, the effort, and most of all the character of those kids to decide on their own that they wanted to help people that they did not know and get on a bus at 5:30 in the morning and head north.

I can't say what the kids are like in a lot of other towns around, but I can say that you have some really good ones in Hutchinson with parents who have obviously brought them up the right way. If you know one of those kids please tell them how grateful we are.

Thanks again from all the residents of Oxbow, N.D.

12 students and two staff members from our school traveled to Moorhead yesterday (Tuesday) to help with flood relief. They were called to help a private homeowner to form a line and stack sandbags to keep the rising river from flooding their yard.

Today a whole bus load of students and adults left at 5:30 AM to help with the effort. They arrived at 9:30 - driving through a blizzard to get there. When they arrived at the coordination point, a representative asked "Are you the group from Hutchinson?" and gave Sheila Hendricks a big hug. They are so glad we are there. They are heading to an area near Shanley High School in South Fargo to begin sandbagging.

We are so proud of these volunteers who are so willing to give their time and energy to help those in need.

Thursday Performance cancelled due to weather

Our evening performance of Into the Woods tonight (Thursday, February 26) is cancelled due to weather. We will have additional performances on the dates and times listed below - thank you for your consideration!

Into the Woods - Theater Production

New Century Charter School will present our production of Into the Woods - a 2-act Broadway Musical by Stephen Sonheim on the following dates - the public is invited to attend! Performances will take place at Maplewood Academy Auditorium at 700 Main Street North in Hutchinson, MN.

Thursday, February 26 - CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

Friday, February 27 - 11:00 AM Matinee - public is welcome.

Saturday, February 28 - 7:00 PM Evening Performance

Sunday, March 1 - 2:00 PM Matinee Performance

Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students. Refreshments, flowers, awards for the actors, etc. are all available at the auditorium for purchase during the performances. Thank you for supporting our Theatre group!

We're Here!

Greetings everyone!

We are getting settled into our new school! It's good to be here. The advisory space keeps 'morphing' a bit, but the kids seem to know where to go and are settling into their studies. Please watch for information coming about our upcoming events.

We will be hosting a community Open House on Thursday, October 2nd from 4:30 - 8 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6 PM. Please stop by!