Real quick on the urine thing - at Albertson's (dorms went there before going to the cut parking lot to get assigned woods) there would be a food fight of sorts with other dorms. Testosterone at its best I tell you. Some weirdos would save urine in a half gallon of milk jug and either chunk it across the parking lot (and hit random people /cars) or they would do it at close range...don't know which is worse. Mostly it was foodstuffs.

Good 'ol days. *sniff sniff*

while I applaud those that are trying to keep the spirit alive.....having Bonfire off campus and not fully backed by the university does take away a lot of the tradition....

Sbisa yells, groding, waking up at 5 am to work your butt off for hours on end....stack... and finally watching it burn....

How I miss it so!

Moore Hall Yellow '95

The first picture my mom saw of me, my Freshman Year, was after my Bonfire Haircut. I never will forget that haircut. It was my yearbook photo and every time a see it I still laugh. If I remember correctly that hair cut didn't cost a dime. Bonfire Buddies were the best. Freshman year, those care packages could sure take the sting out of having to deal with your afternoon comeby. It was an awesome semester. Lifting Logs with your buddies, knowing there was no way it would ever come off of the ground, and then when you had it up, some ZIP deciding that he wanted to ride it out. Man I could type all night. But the best was getting to gaurd it my fish year. Man that was a great night, still the best cigar I ever smoked. That was the year Jackie Sherill came out to the stack, and after witnessing the student effort, came up with the 12th man Kick Off Team for home games. Man that was an awesome time. 4 years later we were SWC Champs, after the greatest night Kyle has ever seen. With out a doubt the Best T-Day ever.

"86,000 times higher than the highest honored graduate of tu"

Forget, Hell!

[This message has been edited by Billy'28 (edited 11/14/2007 10:39p).]

I have many memories of bonfire. Some good. Some not. I was never a bonfire freak like some of my Corps buddies...but I did most of the bonfire activities with my outfit.

I remember being tired as hell at whatever gawd awful time it was they got us up to go to cut. I remember taking my dad to father/son cut. I remember farting off my upperclassmen. I remember wiring some logs. I remember the warm hypnotic fire at stack that you could just stare at for hours as you told stories and listened to the profanities and orders being barked from the pots.

I remember getting a knock on my door from a buddy telling me stack fell and thinking "oh well...I guess we'll just have to build 'er up again"...not realizing what had REALLY just happened. I remember members from my outfit Class of '99 coming to Silver Taps and crying for their lost buddy. I remember taking the plane ride to the funeral and seeing the look in his mother's eyes knowing she'd never see her son again. I remember thinking that God had taken someone truly special who had made a difference in many people's lives...and pondering the utter unfairness and tragedy of it all. I remember the PC response of the national media and our administration giving into the national pressure to shut 'er down.

I know the 12 that were lost would be truly sorry that others didn't get to have the life experiences that bonire provided. Sometimes the safe decision isn't necessarily the right decision. I think TAMU made a very safe decision in removing bonfire (seemingly) forever. When bonfire died a piece of Texas A&M died with it.

But hey...we got a nice shiny memorial out of it didn't we?! Sometimes life needs more living and less memorializing...I know that's what the people we left behind would tell us.

I remember walking right out of my dorm and right up to the bonfire. I was in the corp and in the last dorm beside the chow hall. This is when the bonfire was behind the quad. It was a blast.

For ChristopherLowell...that is no myth!! When you are up in a sling on the 3rd or 4th stacks, it was too hard to climb all the way down and someone would take your sling.

I will never forget working on stack during the midnight to 6 AM shift and then all of us going back to Sbisa for breakfast in our grodes.

NYAG95...You reminded me of that pain at the end of cut. Coming back to the dorm, taking the tape off of your hands, and getting into the shower. The blisters on your hands would just sting. What wonderful memories!!

I remember trucks everywhere and backed up so the tailgates were facing the bonfire. Of course there were kegs in the beds of all of the trucks. This lasted several days. Lots of mud and even more fun.

It was the greatest party of the year!

I was going thru BCS after the 1998 Bonfire. I stopped and filled a couple of small jars with ashes, one for me and one for my Dad.

Little did I know .....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was at A&M 01-05. Never saw it as a student. I did attend '92.

Everyone in my family went to A&M. I always knew growing up I would probably go to A&M also but I remember going to my 1st Bonfire when I was like 9 or 10 and thinking it was, by far, the coolest thing EVER. After that, I was sold. A&M was the only place I was going to college. I dunked my Aggie Ring at Bonfire '97. I was there when it fell in '99. I think of past Bonfires often and the chills I would get at the reading of The Last Corps Trip (always my favorite part) and I am so grateful I got to experience it. Bonfire embodied the Aggie Spirit. It makes me sad it is not around anymore. Since it has been gone, every football season and Thanksgiving feels like something is missing. Bring it back!

Thanks for bringing back the memories guys. It really is amazing to think of working outside all day with salsa in your pants as a human taco and think of it as one of the greatest times of your life.

late 80s to early 90s, 75,000 people would show up for Bonfire.

It brought us together.

Redundant post (by me), but there was nothing like it! Not everyone participated, but the whole campus seemed to have a next level camaraderie that is hard to explain. And then, the night the bonfire was lit, was beyond words. Everything about that night made you so full of Aggie Pride. I wish it would come back, although it would probably have to be too watered down because of liablitity issues. Damn, I miss Bonfire! Gig'em FTAC 1988!

We NEED it back. I really hope we can do this soon.

"Cut was dirty, tiring, fun, hard, awesome.
Unload was dirty, tiring, fun, hard, awesome.
But, there's nothing like sitting in a 4th stack swing from midnight to 6AM."

An 01' Crocker Cock here, I was there 97-01, and helped build bonfire until it fell. I wanted to go out to stack the night that it fell, but got invited to a party, and ended up being very lucky b/c I always got a 4th stack swing.

That question makes my heart sad.

I attended A&M from 1997-2003 (undergrad and grad school) and you wouldn't even be able to imagine just how much things changed in just those last 3-4 years after bonfire collapsed. I remember driving up to Zachary Parking Lot that morning getting ready for class when I saw the stack on the ground. I still get chills all over my body just thinking about that image. I think it was that night I found out Chad Powell was one of the victims (went to high school together). For those couple days after the collapse, I've never heard such deafening silence. That is a feeling I never want to experience again.

When I come to the games now, it's like showing up to a completely different campus. Some of the characteristics are still there, but the students have changed. We're still the classiest fans out there, but there seems to be quite a few more "bad apples" in the stands now then there use to be. I wish our fans would respect our players. You can bash Fran all you want, but please keep the student athletes out of it. Most of these guys are trying to get an education just like you...they just happen to play football to help pay for it.

Never forget our Core Values:

Integrity
Leadership
Respect
Selfless Service
Loyalty
Excellence

Bonfire made the fall semester! I remember taking my soon to be wife to her first bonfire and having it snow on us. Unfortunately, the longer time past, the less likely that it will return to campus. As with the original poster, new ags will miss out on this great tradition!

If you have not had a chance to see the memorial...go! I had a chance to see it after years being away. It was my first time at that site since I last experienced Bonfire. It is very moving. It is amazing to read about those 12 and there accomplishments. They were involved in so much.

While the event no longer exists, the spirit still thrives. Spend some time at the spot of center pole and those nights will quickly come back!

Gig em!

I was a student from '81 to '84 and as a grad student from '85 to '86, and I never missed a Bonfire. It was just an amazing experience. I loved it when they held it off of Jersey Street (George Bush Drive now).

You could visit the fallen stack a WEEK later and still see blue flames issuing from it. Believe it or not, Bonfire averaged 7,000 logs. I calculated that it weighed over 12 million pounds. No place but A&M could host such a mammoth event.

And Jackie Sherrill addressing the crowd was very inspring. We kicked the chit out of t.u. in those days, and I have to think that Bonfire was a big part of it.

I took my now-grown-up little girls to it every year, and they still remember it. I used to alternate putting them on my shoulders to get a better view of the inferno that was Bonfire.

I am really sorry you younger Aggies are deprived of such a unifying activity.

I feel like there is an engineering solution out there that has the potential to bring it back. It all falls on the shoulders of the administration.

BTHOtu!

[This message has been edited by rocket502 (edited 11/15/2007 8:32a).]

[This message has been edited by rocket502 (edited 11/15/2007 8:34a).]

I went to cut once and never participated in stack but I can tell you that even for those who didn't get their hands too dirty were effected immensely by bonfire. You couldn't help but be effected by it. Signs of it were everywhere with dorms walking around in their pots and grodes. I was there from 96-01 and the change on campus in the fall after 99 was dramatic and disheartening.

Bonfire was THE embodiment of the Aggie Spirit and the Aggie experience.

Anyone from class of 72ish that was part of the 100+ foot bonfire? That would have been insane to see.

Pisshead wrap is a night I'll never forget. Ever.

I've still got my machete, but my axe handle shattered a while back and I tossed it. Probably a stupid thing to do.

New Army,

let's just put it this way..............I can guarantee you that every old Ag that pitched in to this thread had a teary eye after reading all of the posts.

THAT is how much Bonfire is missed in Aggieland!!

[This message has been edited by andyv94 (edited 11/15/2007 8:53a).]

I'm trying to hide my glassy eyes at work.

As an Air Force brat coming to Aggieland from Hawaii and having never known about A & M except through stories from my father (and being quite the cynical teenager), one of the most endearing traditions at A & M was the Bonfire. I had never seen or experienced anything like it (or Midnight Yell, Silver Taps, humpin' it and HOWDY!)and instantly realized that this was, is and always will be a special place. Like most others, I can still smell the fresh cut wood, the fuel, and finally the burn! No words to describe it. I'm all for bringing it back to campus, just keep it simple and safe.

BTHO t.u.!

Some of my greatest A&M memories are from bonfire. The thing that I remember the most is working from midnight to 6 am during push. I can still smell the fires that burned at the perm. poles. We would always race to the top of the stack so that we could work on the 3rd or 4th level. From up there everything seemed so peaceful, I can still hear the music playing. It seemed that time would just fly by when all of a sudden in the cold night air you could feel a warmness on your face from the sun rising. There was nothing better than watching the sun rise from up there.

Bonfire was an event that brought the campus together as a whole, CT's and Non-Regs working together for a common purpose. I still have a bottle of ashes in my footlocker stashed away.

I guess the old saying holds true, "From the outside looking in, it cannot be understood and from the inside look out it can not be explained".

I went to so many, I can't remember. Absolutely the most decadent display in all of college football. I stood on stage next to Curtis Dickie (don't ask). I've been with friends, family and co-workers. I witnessed my friends desperately trying to contact their kids who were working on bonfire when it collapsed. I think it's gone forever.

I never got to see a Bonfire in person. Was at A&M from '02-'06. This thread is giving me the chills. We "post-campus-Bonfire-Ags" really missed out on something special.

Great thread and great posts by Ags old enough to have seen it and lived it and built it.

Bonfire WEEK was one of the times I looked most forward to all year.

Three or 4 night before it burned, I would go and sit at perimeter fires with ONE good friend, smoke cigars, and talk about eveything and anything for 4-5 hours or longer. It was great Aggie bonding time. It became a tradition in itself. School, women, football, politics, who you went dancing with last week at the Hall, nothing was off limits.

On the night of Bonfire, we'd gather with a ton of friends and do yell practice, visit, then go to a movie, out to eat, play dominoes, whatever untill about 11:30pm.

Then, all old Ags from our gang of friends from church and school would gather @ the base and hang out all night. I would see Ags friends I hadn't seen in years at the base of Bonfire all night long. It was a huge reunion at the base of Bonfire every year.

We also had to light a stogie off of Stack, no hands of course, after about 3:00 am.

Tradition said we had to stay till @ least 5.

5am (plus), we'd head home dog tired, only to get 3 hours sleep or so before waking up for Thankskgiving dinner (lunch) and then going to a game, or driving to wherever Thanksgiving was going to be if it was an away game.


I kept up with Aggie friends and pals through Bonfire.



I pray for me that it comes back, and I hope I can forgiven if that is a selfish prayer.




But I really pray for you younger Ags to be able to know why we love Aggie Bonfire so much.



No one want Aggie Bonfire back more thank me.





Oh, and I was the one that burned his couch at 90 Bonfire. I was a celebrity for that one night.



Gosh, I miss college!

[This message has been edited by Dr. Mephisto (edited 11/15/2007 9:08a).]

I've had chills reading this thread and I never even saw it burn (Class of '06). It kills me I missed out on this.

I posted yesterday in a different thread about what one former redpot told me very recently, but in brief: the best memorial to Bonfire is the friends you have around you that you made doing it. (Thanks one more time, T)

What about riding in the back of someone's pick-up with ten other guys, freezing your a** off because the front moved through at 9AM and brought rain and you have to come all the way back from Carlos (or further!) soaking wet and sore and chilled and thinking to yourself, MAN I CANNOT WAIT TO GET UP AGAIN IN THE MORNING AND DO IT AGAIN!

"Hey, [insert fish name here], run go find a brownpot and ask if they've seen the skyhook"

"WIRE WIRE WIRE WIRE WIRE WIRE WIRE!!!!" --this was back when I was young and nimble and lighter of frame, and the idea of racing up to third stack in the middle of the night seemed like a good one. (NB 17 hours and Bonfire do not a 4.0 make for 99% of us. 3.0, yes, but not 4.0)

Trees can and do fart. I am not making this up.

Menthols! (To that brownpot in 88: thanks again, bud!)

DONUT ME THIRD STACK!!! Mmmm, glazed.....

"What is this 'chain-saw' of which you speak?"

Heh. The cooler weather this morning made my arms ache for the heft of an axe...

The thing I remember most is seeing where Ags left their most cherished possession, their Aggie Rings - at the bonfire site after collapse for the Ags that had passed and would never get theirs. You have to be an Aggie to understand what your Ring means to you, and to leave them out there in the open like that had to be tough. I got my ring the day bonfire fell and it was so bittersweet. Nov 18, 1999. Never forget it. and by the way, those rings sat out there for days, 24 hours, with no one making sure they didn't get stolen, and I never heard of any Aggie not getting theirs back. Only in Aggieland.

Also want to say that while bonfire was great for the rivalry with t.u., how that university reacted was very classy. They cancelled their Hex Rally and donated all proceeds from their tshirt sales to the memorial. Tons of horns were at the candle-light vigil and I appreciated it. Saw a group of red raiders too, who had to travel much further - also classy on their parts. might have been the only 6 or 8 there, but give credit where credit's due.