I remember Bonfire night as if it was yesterday. It really made the Rivalry seem larger than life. Now, the night before the tu game every year, it almost feels just like another football game, with no real "rival" atmosphere. We need to do something to get that feeling back.

Now, I am not in favor of replacing Bonfire, because I dont believe that can be done. But I did have an idea. I remember the Band Marching with the Redpots, etc to the stack with their torches and then lighting it ablaze. Can we not still have this activity even though Bonfire is no longer here. This is what I mean.....Can we not have a march across campus involving the FTAB, Dorms, The Corps, etc. with Torches and Yell Leaders leading the way?? I know, I know...this sounds like Yell Practice. But that is because it would essentially be just like Yell Practice only bigger and better. Maybe we would start the march at the Polo Fields and March all the way to Kyle. Or better yet, start the march behind the quad as always but march to the Polo Fields. Then we just hold Yell Practice at the Polo Fields.

This would not be a replacement of Bonfire, it would be like having Bonfire with no actual fire. We could have the big stand with the coaches, players, and yell leaders on it just like before. And fellow Aggies could either join the march behind the quad and march in behind the band or they could just gather at the Polo Fields.

Anyway, like I said, it is just an idea. But, it would be fun to be doing something different for the tu game, instead of just having another Yell Practice.

Give it some thought and let me know what you think....

I like the idea too except I think we should end up at Duncan Field instead of the Polo Fields since I always have somber feelings at the Polo Fields. I agree that ending up at Kyle for the t.u. game isn't very climatic or exciting.

Ok, so if the march started at the back of the quad.....it could go around campus (or some interesting route) and end up at duncan. Or even more ol army...it could end up at Simpson.

We could call it "Bonfire Yell"...

well done aggie99 ... always thinkin' ...

I think we should have the Spirit of '02 out there to fire 12 times - just like the '99 yell practice.

The cannon would be a cool addition. Anything to make it that much better.

I just see this as a positive step to bringing Bonfire back. If we are used to doing things as if there was a Bonfire, then we can slowly build up to having one again.

As it is right now, Yell Practice before the tu game seems to have the lowest attendance. I know that that may be for a lot of different reasons, but I remember hearing kids saying things like "I am just going to go home and watch the game on TV." They wouldnt be going home if they had a Bonfire to attend, or at least they would make it back in time for it.



[This message has been edited by Aggie99 (edited 9/8/2003 3:38p).]

ttt

I like it.

alright, I take back what I said before about having the cannon fire 12 times at the t.u. yell practice.

after speaking with Aggie99, I came to the realization that our future bonfires shouldn't be focused on the bonfire accident of '99. Our future t.u. yell practices should focus on beating the hell outta t.u. and the Aggie Spirit. Hold up, don't kill me.

We should have a memorial service on the anniversary of the collapse - possibly cannon firing then.

But after that, in an attempt to get our campus back into the t-sip @ss-kickin' mindset we are supposed to be in ... not in constant reflection of one horrible accident ... we should have a rowdy t.u. yell practice.

Anything would be an improvement over the '01 yell practice.

Great idea!

I like this idea. I came back for a grad degree and the campus isn't the same anymore. There was a more cohesive student body a few years back. Everything in the fall focused on this one event. Dorm relationships were built upon it and it created an "atmosphere" around campus that was overwhelming and unique. Do they still do bonfire related things on campus? Do dorms still have real rivalries? Grode yells? Is the Northside-Southside thing still going? It always made things more fun when you'd hear these crazy goings-on every fall.

What a great idea...I wonder if it is too late for something like this to happen this year.

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Do they still do bonfire related things on campus? Do dorms still have real rivalries?

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Not that I'm aware of.

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Grode yells?

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Yes, but the administration is trying to get rid of them.

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Is the Northside-Southside thing still going?

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Can you be more specific?

ttt

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This would not be a replacement of Bonfire, it would be like having Bonfire with no actual fire.

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I guess I'd say it would be more of a burn without the actual fire. Bonfire was more about the months of effort put into the cut, load, unload, stack, swamp than the actual burn.

But I do think re-enacting the actual night of burn without the actual stack and fire would be a great replacement for Yell.

[This message has been edited by Quagmire (edited 9/24/2003 2:39p).]

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What a great idea...I wonder if it is too late for something like this to happen this year.

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Why not ask the Yell Leaders? (Their Neo aliases are twbailey, jklusk, jmagruder, rbishop05, and pt05aggie.)

hells jyes! current students take action!

I'm a current student. I like the idea alot. I think the act of doing all these things also shows a deep respect for Bonfire and how although things have changed (Bonfire no more), they are still the same (in terms of Aggie Spirit). Does anyone know where to go from here if we wanted to try and get this type of thing going?

find a bunch of other students (or a few) that want to see this happen, and 1st contact the yell leaders to see if you can get their endorsement.

If you are unable to discuss with a yell leader ...

Go talk to Patricia Wehner or Rusty Thompson on the 2nd floor of the MSC in the Student Programs Office - and tell them you'd like to see this happen and they should be able to tell you where to go or what to do next.

If operating through the yell leaders isn't very fruitful - go to Matt Josephy - the Student Body President and get him to back it. Enter Koldus and you can find his office in the Student Activities headquarters.

If he doesn't back it, go to the Residence Hall Association and see if you can get the support of the dorms. Go to Craig Rotter's office in the Commons Lobby - see if you can come speak at the next RHA meeting.

Talk to someone on Corps Staff to see about getting the Corps behind it. The Corps is an easy place to get a quick and guaranteed following/showing at an event. Go to the guard room (right by the arches) and they'll be able to direct you to someone.

Those are the steps I'd take if I were still a student there. Now keep the spark under your @ss and get it done, ags.

This is good bull, email me (blackwell@tamu.edu), I think I can help.

2K

Wow.. Nice idea Aggie99. As you mentioned, not a replacement for bonfire (since bonfire was so much more about all the events around building it, not the actual burning), but it would be nice to do something different for the t.u. game to bring back at least part of the different feel for that game.

This is a great idea--and there is plenty of time to fine tune it.

Endorsement of 3GA = Gold

leknerd2004.....are you sure those are the Yell Leaders neo addresses? If so, how did you find them?

Ok I emailed lusk about it.

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Something like this should also be done for away game yell practices. For too long, these Thursday evening affairs have been exclusive to the Corps.

They should be shared by the rest of the student body, as well as the football team. Given Fran's willingness to embrace tradition, I think transforming the away game yell into a student body sendoff for the team would be a tremendous idea.

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Is the Northside-Southside thing still going?
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Can you be more specific?

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You would probably know what I meant just by hearing that. There was a pretty good rivalry a few years back (and for quite awhile from what I'm told) because the two areas were so different. Northside was basically bonfire-insane and the dorm unity was really strong. Southside was the Corps and the more laid-back non-regs. From my observations, Northside with their grode yells and those grode wars that dorms would have, was a much more intense bonfire environment for the non-reg students. I lived on Southside (Appelt). I'd be shocked if attendance wasn't lower. Our pot just kinda banged on the doors with axes and nobody would get up to go. It wasn't the same for Crocker, which was the dorm my good friends were in. Many people went.

Anyway, they even used to print shirts. Actually, I only saw people wearing Northside shirts. They looked like the "No Frats" shirts, etc. - plain maroon with white lettering.

I hope that clarifies things a bit. I'm sure someone else could add something. It made fall interesting, to say the least.

We had shirts that said Central Side.

One of our yells:

Central Side, Hart's it.
North, South, eat s***.

In case y'all don't venture over to the football board very often, I posted this over there, and maybe I should add it here, as well. If it's a lame idea, fine. But be kind.

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I just had a brilliant idea... (ok, maybe just in my mind, but hey - I think it's brilliant none the less) I like the idea of the band marching around campus, with everyone following. I think we should leave the Polo fields out of it though, for obvious reasons. I also like the idea of the Yell Leaders carrying their torches in front of the band and everything. The path through campus should be an "all over" kinda thing. I then started thinking about the whole aspect of "fire", and night, stuff like that.... I thought, "what if more people could also carry torches?", but then I immediatly ruled that out for safety reasons. But then it hit me! (ouch!) I think everyone should fall-in behind the band (as usual), and carry flash lights! All sizes, too, from the big camping-style hand-held models, to the normal flashlights you can get at Walmart for $1.50! Heck, even those annoying little laser pens would work! But the key would be that everybody would bring some kind of a portable LIGHT! This could look really cool if THOUSANDS brought a flash light! Just because we have nothing to "burn" doesn't mean our LIGHT has been put out! That can be the symbol of our Spirit, if there's nothing to actually burn, ya know?

I also think we SHOULD end up at Kyle Field at the end of the procession, but only after a really long and miandering march through campus.

Bottom line, though - leave the Polo Fields alone. There's a time and place for that, and it's not for this.

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boys, i think you may have something here, damn good, compound, complex idea. at simpson would bring back some real ol' army memories. someones been using his head, and ya'll are right it could lead to something bigger, maybe a flame, a burning desire, to BEAT THE HELL OUTTA' t.u.

Wow...I posted this some time back. I am glad to see the idea catching on. We can make this happen Ags!

Dorms could do the old Cut wake up procedures in each dorm an Hour before the march. Get everyone up and ready. Man do I remember those Cut wake up calls. Felt like the whole dorm was shaking. Some one banging an axe handle against the light post in the quad of Dunn Hall. 45 minutes of Hell.

People could march with axe handles behind the band.

Each Dorm could dress and march behind with a small Dorm log. Logs carved with the dorm names. Logs could be displayed outside the Stadium (in a safe manner) for the game.

Or one log for the school (dorms rotate carrying the log)and display the log in front of the 12th man statue of the Bonfire Memorial.