With apologies to Ben Franklin, in the Red River Valley the only things certain are not death and taxes, but rather snow in the winter and melting snow in the spring.

The annual disappearance of winter’s white gift usually means the re-emergence of flowers, green grass and brothers tossing a baseball in the back yard. But sometimes it also means tossing 25-pound sandbags to protect neighborhoods from rising floodwaters. With the Red River cresting at nearly 20 feet above flood stage, 2006 was one of those years.

On April 4, the Promersberger team ventured into Moorhead and south Fargo to assist with the sandbagging effort. We were joined by dozens of area students who bypassed a day of school in favor of some much needed community service.

By day’s end – despite some dirty clothes and a few ruined pairs of shoes – there was finally some measure of relief for residents who had been up all night, working desperately to keep their homes dry and safe. Not a bad way for a community to spend an otherwise sunny and beautiful spring day.