Aggies Remember Fallen at Off-Campus Bonfire
A&M students spend months preparing bonfire off campus.
By: Meredith Zdenek
From the Texas A&M University Battalion
Every year, Aggies gather to celebrate off-campus student bonfire in preparation for the football game against the University of Texas.
Ashley Vaculin, a member of the Traditions Council in charge of bonfire, said the tradition of Bonfire started in 1907 and was burned to symbolize the Aggies' burning desire to "beat the hell outta t.u."
"What memories it brings to mind; the sight of red pots and the worker bees. I loved the fact that the Corps, undergraduates and graduate students from all walks of life and all diversities came together for this one unique tradition," said Jackie Harris, Class of 1983.
Several members of the Corps of Cadets, along with students of dorms such as Crocker, Hart, Walton, and Neeley, make their way to Bryan down a dirt road to help with bonfire. These students work together to cut down trees to a certain length, carry them up to a skid, where the logs are cut down, transported and sorted for various heights needed for the actual site.
"Bonfire for me is like Muster or Silver Taps, it brings the Aggie family together because we are working towards a goal. We all come together from different dorms in and out of the Corps and work to build the fire and to me that's the most important part, to build friendships that will last a lifetime," said Robert Duvall, a junior history major.
Duvall is known as a brown pot in his outfit, which is a safety coordinator that works with tools used such as chainsaws and tractors and makes sure everyone working with bonfire is safe. Different pots, or hats, are given to the members of those working, each pot symbolizing a different rank.
"To me, tradition is the Aggie Family, it is everything we do and everything we are that is why we are there. Begins with fish camp and that's the beginning of your new family while you are there. And that's the beginning that you carry on with you your whole life," said Cheryl Cook, Class of 1982.
Three years after Bonfire fell on Nov. 18, 1999, at 2:42 a.m., students came together to continue the tradition by building bonfire off campus each year.
"When the Bonfire was lighted, it was a sight to behold. Everyone there or within a 10-block radius could smell the jet fuel and behold the "burn." Even the most jaded cynic among us could be found mesmerized by Bonfire. As a tradition, it will never be replaced. It was one-of-a-kind," Harris said.
The remembrance of Bonfire remains in the hearts of many, even those who were not there to experience the event first hand.
"It is important for us as students to commemorate the lives of the 12 students lost in Bonfire, as well as to celebrate what this tradition means to the Aggie spirit. The love and pride we as students hold for Texas A&M will never be extinguished," said Ashley Vaculin, a junior communication major.
These students spend months every year in preparation for off-campus bonfire, working long, sometimes very cold, hours together developing cuts and scars that remain a part of them for the rest of their lives.
"This [tradition] wasn't about military heroes, boots, football or rings. It was about unity. All for one - one cause - the biggest, best bonfire to lead us on to victory," Harris said.
Published on Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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2 comments:
Yeah, well, I was in Aggies Against Bonfire in 1989, 10 years before those kids lost their lives, but did anyone listen?
No, Anonymous, not at that time. Everybody was too focused on ancillary issues, such as how many trees were being killed and how many drunk students staggered home after watching the Bonfire burn. Ray Bowen, a mechanical engineer by trade, drove by stack every day for eight years without giving the structural integrity of such a big project the slightest thought. He was too busy with other things.
Nearly ten years after the tragedy, however, students have listened. Off-campus Bonfire now uses a professionally engineered designed, drawn up by a licensed engineer who was a graduate of the class of '93. No alcohol, horse play, or hazing is allowed. Women have every opportunity to rise to the top of the off-campus Bonfire hierarchy.
The bad thing now, in my view, is that everybody is stuck in the old Bonfire mindset. This one works, is save, and deserves acclaim for all of the improvements that have been made.
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