The first bonfire was a pile of junk that students threw together and lit on fire to keep warm after the t.u. game. As the years passed, the tradition evolved into an organized event to display school spirit against t.u. Each year, both schools played against each other in an annual football game on Thanksgiving day. The idea behind the bonfire was to symbolize the Aggies' "burning" desire to beat the "hell" out of t.u.
By 1943, bonfire was constructed entirely with logs and stood 25 feet high. The tallest bonfire was constructed in 1969 at 109 feet, but the maximum height was later capped by the University to 55 feet. The structure was composed of a 'centerpole' spliced from several logs that was erected first. Afterwards, logs were placed vertically around the centerpole in a multi-tiered wedding cake design composed of thousands of logs (earlier versions used a smaller 'teepee' configuration). Construction of the bonfire was performed volountarily by Texas A&M students, who worked around the clock during the fall semester, leading up to a few days before the annual game. Students cut down logs on their own ('Cut') and brought them to campus, working around the clock to construct a massive bonfire ('Stack'). An orange outhouse was placed on top of the bonfire stack, painted with derogatory statements against their rivals. Once the bonfire was complete, it was doused with jet fuel and set on fire the night before the big game. This event was very popular amongst the current and former students and people would travel from all over the state and even the nation to observe the burning of bonfire.
GET INVOLVED:The tradition is still being carried on. The first bonfire since 1999 was held in 2002, and was called Unity Project. The Greypots were created to replace the Redpots which were still in court. The 2002 fire was three piles in the shape varsity's horns sawed off.
Now, under the name of Student Bonfire, students are not letting the tradition die. About 1000 students participated in building the 2006 Bonfire. Old Redpots have come aboard to support the fire so there are Redpots again and no Greypots. The Greypots will not be forgotten, since they were so passionate to keep the tradition going by sacrificing time and money. Many of the dorms and crews have had their lines passed down that extend back to the '70s and '80s.
Bonfire is back to being a wedding cake style, but every log touches the ground. Windle sticks are buried and attached to centerpole for added support.
The tradition will live on and burn forever.
If you live on-campus, check with your dorm or outfit to see if they have a Bonfire crew. If they don't, or you live off-campus, check out the Off-Campus Hogs and join their email list.
