Concordia College

Cobber Efforts Buoying Spirits, Energy

After four days of filling and lifting sandbags, Scott Johnson '09 of Moorhead woke up Tuesday morning feeling less sore than he had in a while.

"I think my muscles are finally adjusting," he says. He and about 15 Cobber friends spent the weekend and early part of the week building a four-foot dike in his family's Moorhead backyard. The Red River, which spilled out of its banks on Monday, was starting to creep closer to the house. It is expected to crest between 39 and 41 feet.

Johnson's mom, Debbie Johnson, praised the students most of whom helped for five straight days and still had the energy to joke around.

"They have all been hardworking, positive and fun," she says. "They've all been leaders."

Cobber muscles and energy kept bags filled and lines running as neighborhoods raced to finish building dikes and levees before temperatures fell below freezing. Concordia cancelled classes for a second day on Tuesday, giving students, faculty and staff more hours to help.

"I am so proud of everybody," says Dr. Pamela Jolicoeur, president of the college. "Cobber spirit is very much alive. Many of our students are putting in exhausting hours and then turning around and doing it again the next day."

Down the road from the Johnsons, David Wintersteen, associate professor of CSTA, helped organize volunteers and tracked resources at one sandbagging station.

"They knew I could direct," he joked, a comment about his theatre expertise.

Nearby, Ashley Grabowski '11 of Farmington, Minn., and Ari Johnson '12 of St. Paul took a break after filling and moving sandbags for nearly four hours. They joked about sore muscles and tight backs, but said they'd help as long as someone needed them.

"I'd want somebody to help me," Grabowski says.