Bonfire Memorial

by Joan Carroll

Title

Bonfire Memorial

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

Sunrise is the best time to visit the Bonfire Memorial at Texas A&M University in College Station TX. Even to a non-Aggie, it is a very touching and moving memorial. Every element is steeped in symbolism and the solitude of dawn gives you a chance to appreciate that symbolism. The memorial is dedicated to those who were killed and injured during the Bonfire events of November 18, 1999. From the website http://bonfire.tamu.edu/history: "From its inception as a scrap heap to the more familiar and impressive stack of vertical logs, the Texas Aggie Bonfire symbolized every Aggie's "burning desire" to beat the University of Texas in football. Attracting between 30,000 and 70,000 people each year to watch it burn, Bonfire became a symbol of the deep and unique camaraderie that is the Aggie Spirit. In preparation for the much-anticipated annual football game against "t.u.", as Aggies refer to their rival, the student-built Texas Aggie Bonfire would burn after Yell Practice. The lighting ceremony included the playing of "The Spirit of Aggieland" by the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and the traditional reading of "The Last Corps Trip" poem. An outhouse, known as the "t.u. tea room" or "t.u. frat house" was built by sophomores in the Aggie band and sat atop the completed Bonfire. Aggie lore has it that if the Bonfire stood until after midnight, they would win the game." But during Bonfire on November 18th, 1999, the massive 59' high stack of logs collapsed, killing 12 Aggies and injuring 27 others. Five years later, this Bonfire Memorial was dedicated on the exact location of the �99 Bonfire. This is the Spirit Ring which surrounds the site of the 1999 Bonfire and "represents the Aggie Spirit that unites individuals into something greater than themselves. The twelve portals (4 seen here) are oriented toward the hometowns of those who perished in the collapse. From different backgrounds, communities and beliefs, these students converged on this field, along with many of their fellow Aggies to celebrate the Aggie Spirit. Twenty-seven stones with bronze inlays representing the injured students connect these portals to complete the circle, recalling the Aggie Ring and the ring of Aggies who reunited to celebrate the Bonfire tradition year after year. Each bronze element symbolizes an Aggie, the ring itself represents the common bond connecting each one to the Aggie Spirit. Stepping into one of the oversized gateways on the circle, the visitor symbolically fills the void left by one of the twelve Aggies, embodying the spirit of the 12th Man." (from http://bonfire.tamu.edu/memorial)

FEATURED PHOTO, ALL Fine Art America Artwork group, 9/22/14

FEATURED PHOTO, Artists Best Five Artwork Group ABFA Group, 8/29/14


FEATURED PHOTO, CLOUDS Always the same but never the samE group, 8/27/14
FEATURED PHOTO, Texas Landscape and Landmark Photography group, 8/21/14

Uploaded

August 20th, 2014

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