Is there anything planned to mark the 10 year anniversary of Bonfire's deadly collapse? I was thinking about heading out to the polo fields around the time of the collapse but I didn't know if there were any official plans.

A sizable group usually goes every year and has a fellowship. I will be there at 2:42 rain or clear sky to say "here".

a couple of us are trying to lobby traditions council & sga to do something, anything really, beyond the annual 2:42 memorial. time is a factor though... and of course you always want to be respectful in your efforts. long story short, there'll be something, it may just not be official.

understood, thanks for the replys

wow..cannot believe it has been 10 years...still get chills thinking about that week

Wow, 10 yrs. already....sooooo sad!
Means several sets of students (classes) have gone through with absolutely no bonfire to speak of....what a shame!

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Wow, 10 yrs. already....sooooo sad!
Means several sets of students (classes) have gone through with absolutely no bonfire to speak of....what a shame!

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Yet another uninformed Old Ag.
www.studentbonfire.com

There has been one burning since '02. Been getting better and more established every year.

edit:fix url

[This message has been edited by Pro-Bonfire (edited 8/13/2009 7:59p).]

Something should definately happen in addition to the yearly memorial.

uninformed or not...NOTHING comes close to what the on-campus Fight'n Texas Aggie Bonfire was. Its a shame that all those classes missed out on that experience. As great as the student bonfire is, its just not the same and never will be. Actually, even if Bonfire returned, it won't be the same...and rightfully so. However, having it back on campus would be amazing I think.

Bonfire off campus is never as good as it was on the polo fields, never as good on the polo fields as it was Duncan, never as good on Duncan as it was on Simpson, never as good on Simpson as when it was off campus.

To each their own opinion no matter how selfish they may be. The fact of the matter is there's a group of Aggies building bonfire not for themselves but for each other, for the burning desire. That's how it's always been and how it always will be.

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As great as the student bonfire is, its just not the same and never will be.

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This is simply a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you tell yourself it's not the same and never will be, then it won't be.

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As great as the student bonfire is, its just not the same and never will be.

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This is simply a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you tell yourself it's not the same and never will be, then it won't be.

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My thoughs exactly.
Won't be in his mind anyways.

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It won't be the same

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Herein lies the greatness of Texas A&M.

If it were on-campus, and nothing had ever happened like '99, it would still be "nothing like it used to be."

The new classes that go participate, literally, don't know what they missed. They just know they're out building Bonfire...and that thought is what makes the off-campus efforts righteous (so long as they remain safe).

from The Batt this morning

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With the 10th anniversary of the Bonfire tragedy coming in November, Loveless, along with Executive Vice President Jacob Robinson, is helping plan the remembrances that will be put on for the families of the victims.

"This is one of the last times the University will have remembrances for the victims with the families being directly involved," Loveless said. "We are trying to do things in a tasteful way."

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http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2009/08/31/News/Senate.Holds.Forum.For.New.Sbp-3759573.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition

So what does that mean for bonfire remembrance next year?

Why will this years annversary of the Bonfire tragedy be the last time with the families of the victims being directly involved? Are people just going to stop going to the polo field every year on the anniversary after this year? I didn't know any of the students that were killed, but my heart goes out to the families. Instead I focus my attention on Student Bonfire who has done a wonderful job continuing the tradition so current and future students will have the experience...and so Old Ags can enjoy what they once worked on. Now it's not so much focusing on continuing the tradition (which has already been completed!), it's making it better each and every year! With the way the stack was built on campus, it was too dangerous...having logs be stacked on logs. With Student Bonfire's new design, it's extremely close to what people are use to seeing...the wedding cake "tier" but making it much safer, plus the stack stays up longer and it's always a surprise when it falls.

I agree. The tradition will not die as long as Student Bonfire is around. However with the increased amount of Aggies building it each year, I believe the current Student Bonfire design will not be sufficient enough to accommodate the 'stack' portion of Bonfire. With an increase amount in number, stack will be merely a week long (ish) and cut will go by very fast. I hope you could tell me otherwise. With that said, it is a good "bad" to have. BTHOB.

With Bonfire Remembrance, I will still be out there on the polo field next year.

sonicboom- i didn't think about that. Yea I can see your point on less time will be used to build the stack if more and more get involved. But I love Bonfire with all my heart and support 110%. The weird thing is I don't go to A&M (so I'm not a student) so imagine how the students feel about it and those who are working on it. It just shows the university that Bonfire doesn't have to be on campus to be Aggie Bonfire and I believe a lot of people (including myself) have lost a lot of respect for the university. I respect the university for its education they give students, that's it. I really do think they don't want it back on campus because it will make them look bad and will raise questions with the media and they don't to deal with the media. Of course there are other reasons but when people ask me, that's what I really think. A&M has just gotten too "business" like to where they will do what makes them look good...not what's right. That's why I focus on Student Bonfire. I can't wait until this years Aggie Bonfire!

It kind of makes me wonder, what will Bonfire be like in 5 to 10 years...? Something to think about. I can't think of any tradition that has lasted this long that's this strong. The true Aggie Spirit lies within Aggie Bonfire. You see the spirit when you see the flames on the stack (and when the outhouse falls). I can feel the Spirit everytime Bonfire is lit each and every year! Who says the spirit is just on campus? It's within Aggies, not as university. The university is made up of the students who hold the spirit...the university isn't the spirit...it's the students who carry and show the spirit...in the form of Bonfire!

[This message has been edited by Howdy101 (edited 9/3/2009 12:43a).]

I had a chance to speak with the SBP today on the matter and the phrasing of the post I put up before. It will be the last time that the University requests the audience of the families for the various ceremonies that happen outside of the 2:42 remembrance. The thinking goes that every year they are asked to attend it reopens the wound, and that it probably time we let them be. I can't think of a way to phrase it gently so I'll just say what I'm thinking: It is selfish of us to ask the families of these 12 Aggies to make the trek to College Station every year and suffer through that night in 1999 again. I'm not saying the invitation shouldn't be extended, but the request of presence I think puts an unnecessary burden both emotionally and logistically on these people. Student Bonfire will continue, and we as Aggies will continue to honor people whom most of us have never met. This is the Aggie way.

As for stack design and duration of construction, Sonic, it's something a few of us have wondered about for a while now. The Student Bonfire organization has done a spectacular job of sticking with a single stack design through the past years of construction, a response I think to the original criticism by the 1999 Bonfire Commission Report that alleged every year's Stack structure design was different than the last (because every class wanted to be taller than the last), thereby causing a level of unpredictability in its structural integrity. Nowadays we have a single stack design that has been professionally engineered to be sturdy and stable and repeatable. But because numbers grow every year (and this year looks to be a good year from what I'm seeing) the amount of inputs (trees) will also increase. How does that jive with a static stack design? SB leadership can't change it on the fly, that would undermine the entire reason for having it professionally engineered. If any part of it is going to be changed then the whole thing would have to go back to the drawing board and the numbers would all have to be crunched again. Its a dilemma for sure, and hopefully one that will be solved before it becomes a problem. Maybe the solution lies in having 2 or 3 professionally approved variations of the same stack design, with alterations in ring width and/or height taken into account in case of especially high numbers of trees cut or especially high trees. That way everything maintains the status quo of being professionally engineered, but allows for the contingency of a variation in inputs. But thats just my 2¢. See you in the woods. Or load site I guess.

Has Student Bonfire grown to the point that a new site is needed to accomidate all of the people coming to see Bonfire burn? If I'm reading your post correctly, more logs will be used? Will the stack be taller this year? Because I remember on the Student Bonfire website, SB wants the stack no taller than 45 ft, including the outhouse. Where is the new location?

how big do you guys see student bonfire being in the next 5 years, 10 years in terms of both participation as well as audience?

dude, slow down. I'm in no way, shape or form a part of SB leadership. One year as chief, going on two as a happily content dead observer this fall. I'm only voicing opinions here.

As for where and how and what and all that - don't know, ask a red. Very likely it'll all be the same as last year, I'm just talking a couple of years out... luck favors the prepared, right?

as for future attendance and burn night audience, I can't see any reason why it can't grow to the same numbers as when it was on campus. popularity and acceptance has certainly grown in the time that I've been a part of it. the limitations are of course the physical stack and the size and accessibility of the venue. call it unrealistic, but it is still my most sincere (and respectful) hope to see it back on campus being built by students some day. hell, I've already figured out a great spot for it. that'd solve at least some of the problems associated with overcrowding at private venues... as for the limitation created by a static (and proven stable) stack design, that's an entirely different animal to tackle.

[This message has been edited by Fitch 10 (edited 9/4/2009 12:05a).]

Fitch10, thanks for the update. BTHO Bonfire!

Oh Fitch, will I see you at first cut/load?

....its gonna be hard not to. little preview of things to come right there

Fitch I would say that is a good question to ask. Think by changing the location of burn is going to change the time it takes to move logs from cut to burn site which would mean less loads will make it to site, so that will cut down on some of the amount of logs you have. After you take that into the equation then you may take the type and size of the wood along with the under brush to slow the time the mass amount of cuting group has to get wood. Now after all that is said you can move to stack where most of the work would happen in a smaller area but then you will not have the group that you had from the weekend most likely but for dorm log. Plus ever time I went out there they always have something extra to do from looking for a size/length of log, dance off, having leadership placing a cable for superset, or hell even start a little late or get off early. With all that in mind i bet at the start of each section they play it by ear to the speed as things go.

yah, when I put up that last post I hadn't been told yet that Burn site is different this year (according to the SB website). I can understand your argument that the "little things" like clearing brush and dance offs, plus the logistics of transporting logs can keep the number of trees down. keep in mind though that back in the day when transporting logs to campus was an integral part of the whole operation, trucks arrived on schedule to the minute. Of course, the reds may just start sending us home early if we reach a daily quota or something. I dunno. whatever it shapes up to, its gonna be a helluva year...

I heard of a rumor three trucks. So, if Walton does their job and work hard at load site (we will), than there should be one truck at Unload, one truck on the way, and one truck getting load. It should work out pretty good if all things are ran smoothly.

sonic, you're missing one leg...

if things are timed right, you'll have a departure, met with an arrival at each stop...

unfortunately, that's 4 trucks.

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/57696902.html

On front page of yahoo too

texasrebel... you are right. Walton and unload crew needs a little break. Thats where the 20 minutes from site to site comes in handy? I dont know.

I live in Dallas and can't make it at 2:42am on the 18th like I have so many times. BUT, I'll be there for yell practice before the game that Friday with a candle lit. It won't be anything like the silent, beautiful yell practice before the TU game 10 years ago, but that's just one way I will publicly honor the memory of my friends. I'll be remembering that time in my heart and prayers forever.

I've got to say first of all, too much emphasis is being placed on 2:42. That is only the official time, and not accurate. I know it sounds a certain way, has a "ring" to it, but don't overemphasize it. It's like celebrating Jesus's crucifixtion on Easter Sunday. The date is not exact, only commonly followed.

As for what else I've read, off campus Bonfire has been burned since Moses Hall burned it in '01. A congruence followed later. In addition, I say to hell with "off-campus Bonfire being spelled with a little b," or "It doesn't compare with 'Fightin' Texas yah yah'". Fact is, the current off-campus Bonfire is just as significant in origin, susceptibility to failure, and collective passions as the "real deal".

Last time I accompanied my boys to the collective off-campus Bonfire, I didn't see a single stack. While all logs of the stacks were touching the ground, the potential for outdoing it are there. Is it now as I'm reading only a single-stack, broad-and-wide tepee structure?

Why also must the "greypots" insist on calling themselves "redpots". What use is there in emulating oneself to a position that we all know was ridden with fallibility?

As for the batt article in which Loveless states that this will be one of the last times the families are involved...what someone before said about it being basically a reopened wound I agree with. The severity of losing a part of you can never possibly be less poignant. When others encourage you to caress a missing limb, is it not still gone? The damage has been done. The "Aggies" in our administration made their decisions about how to administer the families. "Involving" them is an afterthought. The real time for that has passed. What they do now in a semblance of "inclusion", or "remembering the fallen" as they say on the sweaters, is for public show.

Like It's been said, "If you want people to forget about a tragedy, you erect a statue." A&M's "desire" to involve the families is a sad misgiving. While the memorial is beautiful and owed to those lost, its cost was disgusting in the face of how they treated many of the families of those lost. The public sentiment was much more diligently controlled by A&M than the welfare of those necessitating care.

As far as I can tell, whatever is planned for this year is as worth doing with a few friends, in solemn moments of prayer, as would be allowing A&M to enjoy the fruits of a widespread gathering on their grounds which they can claim for their own.

These are matters for consideration of those promising young lives lost, not something A&M can put in a mailer about how many Aggies got together.

[This message has been edited by Bobunk RAB (edited 10/29/2009 4:25a).]

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off campus Bonfire has been burned since Moses Hall burned it in '01

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just to clarify, there were a few fires in '01 all built and burned by different groups, some private or invitation only, some with a public invitation, all built by Aggies.