Sandbag Day

14 Sandbag Day One day, our little town was in trouble. We lived in a rocky area, but there was a stream that ran through our town. It hardly ever rained here, but far away in the mountains where the stream came from, it had rained like never before. Our little stream turned into a river, and it was quickly rising. We would soon be under water if we didn't act fast. Unfortunately, our entire town had only ten sandbags to hold back the rising water! We needed hundreds of sand- bags to protect our town from a flood. With only a day before the river would spill over its banks, we knew that we had to make our own sandbags. Where would we get the bags and sand? There was no sand in our town. It was all rock. “ We could make the sandbags, but we don't have any sand! " one person said. " Then we'll all just have to leave town and find some-where safe to stay. We'll have to wait and see what happens. " The people agreed. Everyone started packing their things and prepared to leave.

Many of us had just started to drive away, when an old man stood in the middle of the road to stop us. “ Where are you all going?" he asked. We explained that we were going to safety, and that he should leave too. He laughed and said, " If it's sand you want, there's tons of it up near my place. ' He lived about a mile away, up in some hills. Within minutes, we were all heading to his place. We formed a line of people and started to fill the sandbags. Some of us filled the bags while some of us loaded the trucks. Others piled the bags along the edges of the river. In ten hours, we had made more than 300 sandbags. The river flooded that night and many houses were damaged, but the town was not lost. The old man was a hero. Every year since then, we celebrate “ Sandbag Day" , and he is the head of the party.