My name is Chance Robinson '07 and I am the Senior Head Stack for Aggie Student Bonfire 2006. First of all, I would like to thank all of those who generously gave of themselves to pay for the seven citations written to Bonfire leaders such as myself this past fall. Without your support, I am not sure what I or any others would have done to pay for the tickets.

In addition, I apologize for not taking the time three months ago to thank ya'll for your support. If possible I would like to request that those who did make a donation please reply to this post with whomever's name that you helped out. If anyone knows of someone else who helped us out, please tell me their names as well. I would like this information so that we have the opportunity to properly thank you for your generous support.

I'll admit I'm not the biggest proponent to online forums (I personally don't like them). In the case of this past November, without the help from the Texags community, there would be no possible way that seven college students could have paid for what totaled to $3906 worth of citations and court costs.(As an update, each individual was charged $558 which is the maximum penalty for the violation of a burn ban plus the mandated $58 court costs.)

On a lighter note the most of us have been placed on deferred adjudication which will wipe the Class C misdemeanor from our records in 90 to 180 days, pending no other major offenses.

I would also like to state that as an organization, Aggie Student Bonfire does not wish to set a precedent for our organization to violate laws like what happened this past November. In the future when an issue such as this arises (the County Burn Ban), legal advice will be sought rather than simply taking for granted the interpretation of a county official in regards to state law (We were assured in October that the county Burn Ban would not affect our event due to ceremonial aspect of the event and it being planned months in advance, when in reality burning Bonfire was in violation of the law which was discovered the day before the scheduled event.)

In closing I will leave you with the seven names in case your memory needs refreshing. Again please post your name and who you helped out.

Bonfire 2005 Seniors
Ryan Shafer
Eric Alvarez
Paul Harding

Bonfire 2005 Juniors
Chance Robinson
Jack Shallock
James Frazier
Jeff Butler

[This message has been edited by hoss07 (edited 2/24/2006 9:49a).]

Howdy Chance,

I was one of the ones listed as being for responsible for springing you, I mean helping to cover your fines.

Glad to help and I hope it really burns next year.

EMc77- Old Army Cock Co 'till I got married and then R-1 and 3rd Batt Staffrat.....

Chance-
After using the complicated search feature, here's the list compiled by opie of the donors and who they helped.

quote:

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If you still care to give, please don't be deterred. The newspaper said that there may be up to 9 citations issued, including one for obstruction of traffic at the front gate and another for starting a perimeter fire.

There have been at least 4 lawyers who have volunteered to help the Grey pots with their citations, so they may have the fines set below $500 (which has always been a possibility).

Here is the final list of donors:

Chance:
E.McC.
B.McG.
J.B.

Jack:
GiveUsRoom
CUwhenitburns04
Opie03
MaroonDon'tRun
J.S.
HoustonAg
WillD

James:
WillD
BuildtheHell
Longtime Lurker

Jeff:
Longtime Lurker
Hap
Leknerd
Country, Country Sr. +

Ryan:
Everyday Sip
Yell Ags
DualAG
AG05
Neurotic Ag
Analogy AG
Darryl Russi
Hagen 95
Will D
DJX02

Paul:
C.H.'70

Eric:
Scott Coker
Token
BonfireAg95
Brandon Heath

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http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=529654&page=1&forum_id=14

quote:

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I would also like to state that as an organization Aggie Student Bonfire does not wish to set a precedence for our organization to violate laws as in the incident from this past November. In the future when an issue such as this arises(the County Burn Ban), legal advice will be sought rather than simply taking for granted the interpretation of a county official in regards to state law (We were assured in October that the county Burn Ban would not affect our event due to ceremonial aspect of the event and it being planned months in advance, when in reality burning Bonfire was in violation of the law which was discovered the day before the scheduled event.)

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Very wise.

It's unfortunate that community opinion leaders, such as the Eagle's editorial board, did not appreciate the bind that Student Bonfire leaders faced on that Friday morning.

Nevertheless, your statement reflects a degree maturity that somehow must be communicated to the gneral public if community support for the project is to be retained.

In light of a letter to the editor that ran last month, it would be a good idea to inform the public once cleanup efforts at Hot Rod Hill are complete.

[This message has been edited by DualAG (edited 2/23/2006 6:08a).]

Chance, you've got mail.

EMc77,

If you or any other contributors would be willing to share your name and contact info with me, I would appreciate an e-mail sent to crobinson@studentbonfire.com Thank you for your time and I look forward to having the opportunity to speak with you as well as other contributors to our cause.


Thanks,

Chance Robinson '07
Senior Head Stack
Aggie Student Bonfire 2006

Chance,

I donated to the fund to pay for the fines. I understand the bind that you were in due to the Commissioners Court, the DA and the judge. It is too bad that they could not have used common sense because this was a ceremonial burn that had been planned for a long time. Further, there was no safety issue since there were appropriate fire fighting equipment at hand as well as monitoring. The local politicians and city leaders in the B/CS are a big disappointment. They remind of the characters in Planet of the Apes.

[This message has been edited by Houstonag (edited 2/27/2006 5:20p).]