Posts Tagged ‘ bonfire ’

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Bonfire that killed 11 students and 1 former student. While we did not know any of the victims, personally, we both worked in Student Affairs. Furthermore, several of our friends were directly affected by the death of someone very close to them. It was terrible.

Our clock radio went off that morning with perfect timing. The first words we heard went something like this:

“Once again, the Bonfire stack collapsed at approximately 2:30 this morning. Rescue crews have been working all night. Please avoid the area.”

Lori laid there, awake, and too shocked to speak for a moment.
Emil’s first words, “honey, did you hear the radio?”
Lori’s first words, “Poor Rusty.” (Rusty was Bonfire’s Advisor…what hell must he have been going through!)

Tonight/tomorrow, at 2:42am, there are remembrance ceremonies all over Texas (and elsewhere probably). It’s particularly special that the Leonid Meteor Shower will be brightest in the sky at the same moment as the anniversary of the collapse.

When looking for a ceremony in Austin, we discovered that the bonfire site is down.

It’s also a fairly active topic on Twitter:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23bonfire
and
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23aggiebonfire

In Memory

Miranda Denise Adams
Christopher David Breen
Michael Stephen Ebanks
Jeremy Richard Frampton
Jamie Lynn Hand
Christopher Lee Heard
Timothy Doran Kerlee Jr.
Lucas John Kimmel
Bryan Allen McClain
Chad Anthony Powell
Jerry Don Self
Nathan Scott West

The Eagle also did some great stories about each of the families of these Aggies,

Spirit of Aggieland

Some may boast of prowess bold
Of the school they think so grand
But there is a Spirit can ne’er be told
It’s the Spirit of Aggieland
We are the Aggies – the Aggies are we
True to each other as Aggies can be
We’ve got to fight boys, we’ve got to fight
We’ve got to fight for Maroon and White
After they’ve boosted all the rest
Then they will come and join the best
For we are the Aggies, the Aggies so
We are from Texas A.M.