Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1986)
Tuesday, November 25, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5 I have ouse Apt lv een 01* \ ):30 p,n, ,R: 2 bleth’S ion. Flying! ill have hip Hail; ■>n concer on the (tf ■rsity Pol Class of i 216 MS commit'* I MSC. tairmenif ng sub® I interest; houldcu Matheir.: Fightin’ Texas Aggie bonfire It stands as a symbol of the spirit that can ne’er be told and sdft said tk nershipj tribute If i age. | of the-i ■ ned a fife, the rr ^ e ihar.frt' Story and photos by John Makely Texas A&M bonfire is scheduled to go up in llames tonight, warming i not only the cold night air but also the Aggie desire to “Beat the hell | outta t.u.” in the annual Thanksgiv- | ing day football game against the | University of Texas. Thousands of Aggies have worked for nearly eight weeks, cut ting the oak trees and building the bonfire, which sits on Duncan Field. During the last week before the fire’s lit, students work one of two shifts from either 6 p.m. to midnight or midnight to 6 a.m. hauling, stack ing and wiring the logs to the cen- terpole. Bonfire cut started Oct. 5 just out side of Roan’s Prairie and netted about 9,000 trees. On Oct. 30, the centerpole was raised, and crews be gan the process of wiring the logs to it. The stack stands 55 feet above the ground when finished. This height limit was set by the City of College Station to prevent students from at tempting another 109-foot bonfire such as the one built in 1961. The 45-foot diameter stack will be topped off Tuesday afternoon with the burnt orange outhouse, which has been called a t.u. frathouse, com plete with an Austin city limits sign donated by an Austin sign company. Later, just before the redpots lead the band around stack, a crew from the Texas A&M Fireman’s Training School will spray 500 gallons of die sel fuel on the stack. They try to en sure an even burn. Unfortunately after all this action and a little rain, Duncan Field is usually on the muddy side, so you may want to wear your rubber boots. Clockwise from top: • Senior redpot Brian Lehne (left) and junior red- pot Steve Lawton go over stack procedures during a break. • Tightening the line on the perimeter poles is a greasy job. • Cadets in Squadron 16 carry a log to the trucks at the cutting site. • Freshmen from company B-l crowd into the cen terpole hole. • Junior redpots Ned Mur phy (left) and J.D. Steward help position the centerpole.