Bonfire was so magical! There was nothing like
it in the world. It should come back to campus! You can engineer it to be safe. What a joy it would be!

TxAG#2011 said:

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Fine with contractor build as long as its on campus. No offense to all those who spent years as students building..... we just want to watch the bonfire.

Maybe contractors consisting of former students if that makes yall feel better.

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This is about the worst take possible. And everything wrong with this whole idea.

Furlock Bones said:

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TxAG#2011 said:

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Fine with contractor build as long as its on campus. No offense to all those who spent years as students building..... we just want to watch the bonfire.

Maybe contractors consisting of former students if that makes yall feel better.

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This is about the worst take possible. And everything wrong with this whole idea.

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What exactly is wrong with this idea?

If the regents are involved, they would charge admission because all they care about is $$$$

A is A said:

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ironmanag said:

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The Bonfire needs to be back on campus. No matter what form it takes.

If we have to suffer the horns again, we need that event to bring all Aggies home before the game.

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Student led, off campus >>>>>>> On Campus, No Spirit, No Student involvement.

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You mean like now.

Off campus has almost zero involvement anyway.

It;s clear you have never been to an on campus bonfire.

An idea I had after Bonfire fell in 1999 was for the memorial to be comprised of 12 permanent, concrete or metal centerpoles - each perhaps 12 ft high - arranged in a circle 40- 60 ft in diameter..one centerpole for each Aggie who died.

Each of those poles would be set deep in the ground in concrete and have an inscription honoring one of the fallen. This would also function as an additional memorial the rest of the year.

So each year Bonfire would be comprised of 12 moderately sized, very safe, 12-15 ft high bonfires. All the logs for each of the 12 bonfires would rest on the ground, leaning into and wired to its center pole in teepee fashion.

In addition to honoring those who died and creating what should be a very safe "stack" and burn process, the teepee design (no wedding cake layers, which is what made bonfire so dangerous in later years!) is how Bonfire was built in the "Old Army Days" when my Dad, Gerald Hord Class of '56, was at A&M.

The symbolism of each of the poles dedicated to the 12 fallen Aggies supporting a Bonfire, just as they had done, would also be compelling, I believe.

Just thought I would throw that idea out there for others to criticize or improve.

Cecil said:

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An idea I had after Bonfire fell in 1999 was for the memorial to be comprised of 12 permanent, concrete or metal centerpoles - each perhaps 12 ft high - arranged in a circle 40- 60 ft in diameter..one centerpole for each Aggie who died.

Each of those poles would be set deep in the ground in concrete and have an inscription honoring one of the fallen. This would also function as an additional memorial the rest of the year.

So each year Bonfire would be comprised of 12 moderately sized, very safe, 12-15 ft high bonfires. All the logs for each of the 12 bonfires would rest on the ground, leaning into and wired to its center pole in teepee fashion.

In addition to honoring those who died and creating what should be a very safe "stack" and burn process, the teepee design (no wedding cake layers, which is what made bonfire so dangerous in later years!) is how Bonfire was built in the "Old Army Days" when my Dad, Gerald Hord Class of '56, was at A&M.

The symbolism of each of the poles dedicated to the 12 fallen Aggies supporting a Bonfire, just as they had done, would also be compelling, I believe.

Just thought I would throw that idea out there for others to criticize or improve.

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It's all about "Unity". 12 separate bonfires does not achieve that purpose.

100% this

txag11 said:

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Yeah no. The actual point of bonfire is busting your ass with your buddies killing trees, loading, unloading and stacking. The fire at the end isn't what makes bonfire what it is. It's the camaraderie and tradition in the process it takes to get there. Just putting a fire on campus doesn't mean it's Aggie Bonfire.

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Bonfire isn't about you, and your buddies. Good lord.

Boomers in disbelief that nobody seems to care about their Walton hall traditions in here lmao.

As a class of '09, bonfire to me almost entirely equates to the 1999 collapse. I was aware of student bonfire when I was in school, but only knew a few who participated.

How do current students feel about it?

Agthatbuilds said:

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I dont think any contractor would be willing to take on that liability

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Nothing an insurance policy couldn't mitigate.

oldschool87 said:

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The reason stack fell, started circa 95,96. I commented to the wife in 97, something is not right! Stack was falling every year in less than 15 minutes. In 97 98? It fell before the war hymn was over!

What happend? Bonfire has center pole. You are supposed to go out about 6 feet and drop another 12 mini center poles 5 feet deep. Go out another 5 feet drop 20 center poles, and continue. When stack is done it has 80 poles 5 feet in the ground. It physically cannot really fall over if the thing is anywherer remotely close to balanced.

Circa 95 that stopped happening. There were zero poles in the ground in 99.

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I would say 1994. That year, Stack leaned over (fortunately, with nobody on it at the time) and had to be disassembled and rebuilt in a week. At the time, Rebuild was praised as a great accomplishment. But in order for it to get done in time for Burn, the crew must have taken a bunch of shortcuts, right? And those shortcuts would have been taught to the freshmen in 1995, etc.

Though, the second 1994 Stack did introduce some improvements, like steel cable wraps (which were used until 1998, but omitted in 1999) and treating the ground with lime.

The school would be literally insane to restore it on campus after the school's previous negligence in overseeing cut and stack. It turns out you always need actual adults in the room after you kill 12 due to negligence. And if no one else will be the adults in the room your insurers will be.

hunter2012 said:

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txag11 said:

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Contractor built bonfire. No thanks.

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I thought the important thing was the building of it so that you have a collaborative effort of the student body? If you just have a contractor do it then what's the point? Might as well hire the Texans to play our football games for us as well.

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Don't we?

Agthatbuilds said:

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I dont think any contractor would be willing to take on that liability

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A&M could assume that liability contractually.

I'm not one who's dying to bring it back, but honestly it's dumb that it was ever discontinued. The problem wasn't building a bonfire, it was the stupid and unsafe practices. It should have returned the following year with professionals handling the dangerous and skilled work. Students could've continued to participate in the cut etc.

Out of curiosity, what year are you?

GigEmReggie said:

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Agthatbuilds said:

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I dont think any contractor would be willing to take on that liability

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A&M could assume that liability contractually.

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Iirc the premiums for the school to get insurance became prohibitive after 12 died and many lawsuits were filed including for critically injured folks. But if we have infinite money, sure….but lawyers and bean counters tend to advise against unnecessary risk, fwiw.

Quote:

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Contractor built bonfire. No thanks.

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If the 11 in your name is indeed your year, you don't understand Bonfire.
Stack was almost an afterthought of bonfire. The real heart of it was cut. Most people who built it (like myself) would tell you the same.
I would like it to come back exactly as it was before, but you can't push back time. Bringing professionals in at some of the key positions, while preserving the student involvement, is likely the best you'll ever get.

TxAG#2011 said:

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Fine with contractor build as long as its on campus. No offense to all those who spent years as students building..... we just want to watch the bonfire.

Maybe contractors consisting of former students if that makes yall feel better.

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With all due respect you obviously never built one. The best part of Bonfire is the building, not the burning.

So they wanna "Build Back Better"?

I'm a post Bonfire collapse grad, I've been to off campus bonfire numerous times. It's great. However, I can imagine that it's missing something that on campus Bonfires had.

That being said, if bringing Bonfire back to campus means no more student involvement, then the Spirit of Bonfire will be lost.

I had the joy of participating in cut, stack, build, and burn twice in the year and a half I was at TAMU. Then came back and participated in burn many times before I started a family, a job, moved from Texas and could get there each year. Sadly my last one was 95. I broke and cried when I saw on the news the 99 collapse. Cried for those injured, cried for those killed, cried for those that witnessed and helped in the aftermath. Physically heart broken. But I also cried for the loss of Bonfire amd what it meant to me in the times I was able participate. It was more than just banding together and showing spirit, it was the bond that was formed, it was a huge part of what made being an Aggie meant, it was the glue that made the post school community as strong as it was.
I made it back to campus in 2004 when my wife at the time decided to get her Master's. I remember that first day of the fall semester and walking around campus and everything being so different. The Howdy's were few and far between and initiated only by myself, headphones dominated the landscape, groups of students in the various hangouts were completely homogeneous, none of the diversity seen in my day, pajamas and slippers were the dress code of the students going to class, and pathways through the grass around the outer edges of the student center where it was obvious folks just cut the corner a little. The whole place felt divided and individualistic to me. Was there for two years while she worked her program, and it just got worse. I have been back a couple of times since. When my daughter graduated after her master's degree, when my step neice graduated in 2017, and for a football game 2015 my daughter worked as student trainer during her master's program. The divide was still strong, the individual still the most important. It was amazing to me in 2004 how much had changed in a mere 5 years without Bonfire, I have not been back to campus itself since 2017, have no desire to see the further decline. I will cherish my memories from the 89 semester and 90 semesters I spent there instead. Bonfire is gone, it cannot return as society today will never be able to understand what it was and what it meant. The individual is more important than the collective strength of the united.
No, the spirit behind Bonfire has passed into another world it can physically return, but it will never be what it was, and nothing else will be either.

No! Bonfire as we know it is not coming back to campus. I'm surprised that a regent would propose a study. if you are at all familiar with the investigative commissions report you will see that on-campus Bonfire as we knew it has no chance of returning. The commission headed by Houston building contractor Leo Linbeck-now deceased-was exhaustive and left no log unturned. There was initiative to bring Bonfire back in 2002...didn't happen then-won't happen now. I emphasize "as we know Bonfire."

Bonfire lost stability and started falling early when it moved from the highest and hardest location on campus (Duncan Field) to the lowest softest soil on campus (Polo Fields) / water detention area. Coincidence?

hunter2012 said:

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txag11 said:

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Contractor built bonfire. No thanks.

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I thought the important thing was the building of it so that you have a collaborative effort of the student body? If you just have a contractor do it then what's the point? Might as well hire the Texans to play our football games for us as well.

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Isn't that basically what we are doing?

We have not won a conference championship in football since Bonfire on campus fell. Coincidence? Perhaps a curse?

Bonfire needs to come back to campus so our team, our coach, our band, our yell leaders, and even our university president can and will attend. But it can't come back in its old form due to huge liability issues. These issues are so big that A&M probably cannot buy an insurance policy that would protect everyone at risk because no company would dare sell it.

The solution? Go back to the original tradition; a bonfire made of trash. The trash would symbolize tu. A&M wouldn't need an engineer to place his or her seal on a trash heap. Restrict the materials to only wood. Allow anyone to add a piece of wood to symbolize their burning desire to beat tu. Have a center pole with a tu outhouse on the top.

Yes, it won't be as pretty as the old Bonfire. But is that why we came? It won't require as much work either, which means fewer students will flunk out due to Bonfire. It's time to renew a tradition by going back to the original Bonfire.