Metal tipi sculpture at the Stampede Grounds (Photo: M. Kopp)

It’s over… but it won’t be forgotten.

The 101st showing of the Calgary Stampede wrapped up on Sunday with over 1.1 million guests coming through the gates. In the wake of the city’s worst flooding disaster, Calgarians rallied and sweated and slopped and pulled off something just short of a miracle.

I was there in the middle of the festivities, wandering the grounds and wondering when I’d see signs of the disaster. Yes, the banks of the Elbow River were littered with debris and tracks of mud. True, the shutttered Saddledome was a tourist attraction if only for a glimpse in closed doors at the damage caused when water rose to flood up to eight levels of seating.

Oh, the timing! (Photo: M.Kopp)

But the only pool of water was in the – rather ironic – Bell water show. There were no traces of mud on the roads or walkways and only the odd patch of spongy grass in Weedickville. Water trucks actually had to spray down the dusty track – covered with over 2.5 metres of water just two weeks before – in between chuckwagon races.

“Come Hell or High Water” t-shirts dotted the crowds at the Stampede grounds the day I attended. The phrase became a slogan as the floodwaters receded and the Calgary Stampede adopted it and encouraged a community-funded campaign to support the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Flood Fund through purchases of the shirts.

Monday morning, as the Midway packed up and the grounds were cleared, the Stampede presented a cheque for $2.1 to the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Flood Fund on behalf of the community.

Isn’t it amazing what we can do when we work together?

On the banks of the Elbow, old and new stand strong. (Photo: M. Kopp)

Echoing words from Corb Lund’s “Blood, Sweat & Water” tribute:

“The banks of the river have crumbled,
  And the currents uprooted the trees.
  But in my eyes no city has looked quite as pretty,
  As when Cowtown rose up from its knees.“