August/September - Wheat Life

FEATURE WLWorking together, the group of people wereable to get the shop cleaned up and everythingmoved back in.“Every person I called simply said ‘what timeand what should I bring?’” said Kuch. “I didn’thave to work very hard at gathering volunteers.That’s a big deal, because this is our busy time,and everyone is behind schedule because of thecrazy weather we’ve had.”“Words don’t seem like enough at a time likethis,” said Knodel. “The magnitude of peoplethat showed up? And then we heard that Ryanwas putting together a work party? I’ll tell you,we could not have done this alone; it was toovast. There is still so much yet that we aren’tgoing to get to because of harvest. Everyone is inthe same boat. Everyone that was here is an areafarmer working hard to get ready for harvest,and they took the time to be here with us.“That is the beauty of a small town where youknow most everyone, and people just show upto do what they can.”Knodel said that despite the damage, it couldhave been a lot worse. The fence that surroundedtheir home rerouted much of the waterand held back a lot of debris. If their basementwindows had broken, the entire basementwould have flooded. And the whole incidentreaffirmed that fact that people really care andcan be counted on to provide help and support.Knodel also said she was extremely grateful thatin all the cleanup commotion, nobody was hurt.Knodel suspects that the current damage isonly part of the effects of the flooding.“It will take years for the ground to rebuilditself, and some places, that will never happen,”she said, explaining that the rain washed awayenough soil to expose bedrock in places, aswell as creating big gullies through the fields.“We are fearful that there will be areas that wewon’t be able to plant in, that those areas won’tproduce any wheat.”Knodel said that in the 100-year history ofthe farm, they’ve never seen anything like whathappened in the storm. “I’m hoping we can goanother 100 years and not have something happenlike this. We’ve seen some very devastatingacts of Mother Nature, and it is a helpless feeling.You don’t have any control. But the blessingout of all this was that we had a wonderfuloutpouring from neighbors and friends.”Photo COURTESY OF lOIS GUSTBesides depositing a lot of mud and debris at the Knodel’s home, the storm also washedout Thiel Road.Photo COURTESY OF lOIS GUSTAnthony Alcocer (front) and Randy Franz were only some of the volunteers who spentthe day mucking out the Knodels’ shop. In the background are Barb Franz and MichelleSlate, with Bryce Stephenson driving the tractor.The Knodel’s yard.Photo COURTESY OF lOIS GUSTWHEAT LIFE AUG/SEPT 2012 45