“That is really the icon piece that tells the story,” Sipma said. “Coming up in the days and weeks ahead, we are going to launch the monument project that is going to raise $150,000 out of privately donated dollars.”

He said the monument will be designed and created by local artists.

“We cannot afford to forget about the disaster because it then enables us to forget about how hard we all worked together to bring everything back and make it even better,” he said.

A mural of community-submitted photos was unveiled as a memorial Saturday. About 3,000 pictures had been submitted. People at the resilience event were able to attach their photo representations onto the mural board.

Paul Haman attaches a photo from the 2011 flood submitted by his family to a Resilient Together mural project at an event in Oak Park Saturday.

The completed mural will be displayed at City Hall and the State Fair. Eventually, the public will be able to download pictures or order prints from a flood anniversary website. A limited number of murals will be printed for a future auction.

In addition to the mural and monument, a quilt created by Andrea Stewart and Kim Thompson that features T-shirts created and worn during the flood recovery will be available for display.

Saturday’s Resilient Together program in Oak Park drew around 150 people and featured former mayor Curt Zimbelman and Minot Public School Superintendent Mark Vollmer, who spoke about the impact of the Souris River topping its banks in June 2011.

“The valley as a whole has come a long way since the flood of 2011. The devastation was immense,” said an emotional Zimbelman, who received two standing ovations.

“But we never gave up,” he said. “You, the people, never gave up.”

Signage lines a walking/biking trail in Oak Park Saturday, creating a flood memory walk.

Vollmer recalled the loss of several schools in the flood fight.

“Only Perkett, protected by a last-minute ring dike pushed together from the dirt on the playground on the 21st of June, held water,” he said. “Throughout the flood, we babysat that dike. We pumped rainwater from the inside of the dike, pumped groundwater from the basement. Perkett, which was also protected in 1969, became the pinnacle of hope for our school district.

“Now 10 years later, $76 million in infrastructure enhancements have either rebuilt or replaced our buildings and, yes, we have technically recovered but yet so many memories remain. We offer thanks to the federal,state and local officials that helped us rebuild. We fondly remember our neighbors and friends who left the community because rebuilding was not an option for them. We celebrate those who lived on the hills that offered support of housing and labor for those who were affected, and we honor those today that worked to rebuild homes and businesses, worked at their jobs all day and worked well into the nights on their homes. These families have truly exemplified the concept of resilience and hope and promise of better days ahead,” he said.

Col. Michael Walters, 5th Bomb Wing commander at Minot Air Force Base, spoke about partnerships in times of crisis.

“While we hope that Minot will never face another natural disaster like we did 10 years ago, if it should happen, the base will stand by the residents of Minot, ready to respond,” he said.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven also spoke about the scope of the June 11 disaster. The river flowing into Minot in June 2011 brought nearly as much water as flowed during the entire high-water year of 1976. There were 4,800 buildings inundated, 11,000 people displaced and six schools damaged. But no loss of life, he noted.

Representatives of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer and Congressman Kelly Armstrong, along with Souris River Joint Board Chairman David Ashley, also spoke.

Resilient Together T-shirts were given away, courtesy of Hess.