f, November 27, 1996 The Batt Online: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Troy Smith, a new senior
redpot for next year,
watches as Bonfire blazes
Tuesday night.
Photo by Stew Milne,
The Battalion
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
It is the fire within the hearts of its
creators that ignites a passion sodeep
one must live it to understand.
By Kendra S. Rasmussen
The Battalion
C huck Shaw, a brownpot and a senior construction science major, said
the lure of the flame is what keeps the spirit of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie
Bonfire alive from year to year.
“It’s a love for the fire,” he said. “If it weren’t for just a few people putting
their hearts into it, it wouldn’t happen.”
For the students who volunteer their time, Bonfire becomes a way of life. And for
those who who have lived it for the past four years, the lifestyle has drawn to a close.
R. E. Hopkins, head stack and a senior agricultural development major, said
he greets the end with mixed emotions.
“My role now is over,” Hopkins said. “It is time for me to step aside and let
some other people take over. , ,,,
"It has been just a tremendous experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for any
thing,” he said.
“I am ready to pass it on, but at the same time I am going to miss every
thing I have been a part of here.”
Hopkins said he was first hit with the realization that his time with Bonfire
was limited as he watched it burn last year.
“I had just finished one of the most demanding and harder times of my
life,” he said, “ [and] I knew I had only one more to build.”
Most students who help build Bonfire experience similar feelings of sad
ness when their time draws to a close.
Carl Baggett, student body president and former head stack, said he hand
ed his duties over to Hopkins last year with mixed emotions.
“I was ready to try new experiences on this campus,” Baggett said, “But at the
same time I was going to miss it.”
Shaw said realizing his end has come has left a void that he will have to fill
with new life experiences.
“The things that I started with are over,” he said.
“It [is] a closing,” he said, “and all I have ever done up to this point is open
ings. It’s hard to let go ... [but] I know that I have to go on.”
Thousands of people attended Bonfire Tuesday night, and most would
agree it was an unforgettable night. But only those who create it truly know
what it means to experience it.
Joel Foshea, a junior redpot and an agricultural systems management major,
said those who help build Bonfire watch with more emotion as it goes up in flames.
“I don’t think anyone can say they have experienced Bonfire until ... they
have actually been a part of building the fire,” he said.
Foshea said helping create Bonfire has left him with a fulfillment that can
not be found elsewhere.
“Bonfire is everything that being an Aggie is all about,” Foshea said. “It wouldn’t
be possible if it weren’t for the coming together of all Aggies for one common goal.”
Shaw said the fact that Bonfire becomes a reality every year is a reflection
on the greatness of the University.
“ [When you have] people being brought up in opposite mentalities — having dif
ferent thoughts about different things all doing something like this — that says that
we don’t necessarily need to have the best professors or the best football team,” he
said. “We have got a student body and an alumni that are unparalleled anywhere.”
Foshea said he looks forward each year to passing his duties along and as
suming a new role. '
“The most memorable and rewarding feeling is being able to, each year,
have a different responsibility,” Foshea said. “[And] being able to pass that re
sponsibility down to someone in the next class and being able to accept re
sponsibility from someone in the Class of ’97.”
Hopkins said he wishes he could prolong the experience, but he is ready to
hand over his duties to the Class of ’98.
“Part of me wishes I could make this feeling last forever,” he said. “But it is
time to go on, and I have to start something new.”
Shaw said the leaders for next year’s Bonfire should take advantage of the
time they have.
“Whatever you do, take advantage of it,” he said. “Have fun and shake peo
ple’s hands. Give them a hug. Whatever it takes — enjoy it while it’s here be
cause it does end.
“Part of me will always be out here,” he said. “I will leave myself.”
Outhouse Blues
Parsons Mounted Cavalry
supplied the outhouse
atop Bonfire last night,
changing the 42-year-old
tradition of burning an
outhouse from the Fightin'
Texas Aggie Band.
See related story, Page 4.
Rony Angkriwan, The Battalion
9