STACY JONES, FULLBACK:
I woke up to the DJ on my radio alarm clock saying the bonfire stack had fallen and students had died. I headed to campus to an 8:00 a.m. class, and I had to go by the stack. After seeing the stack site, I did not want to go to class, but I went anyway. The professor opened the class by telling us if we needed to miss she would understand. I stayed the whole class because I did not know what I could do to help. The rest of my classes that morning were canceled. I went to the locker room and changed for a weight work out. Someone (I don’t remember who) said that the upper classman are at the site helping move logs and they were headed there also. All of us that were there jumped into vehicles and headed over. I remember walking next to the orange fence and just before crossing over, a female Aggie was standing by and I heard her say a soft “Thank You” to us.
I can remember some Corp members giving us a brief lesson on how to lift the logs. We were supposed to approach the log…one, two, half way up…three, four all the way up. It seemed that ever log I helped with went all the way up at one, two.
One of the other things that stands out in my memory, is at Yell Practice the night before the game. After all of the players left the field and headed to the locker room to get on the bus, George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr. were standing there as we entered the locker room. They shock hands and made eye contact with every single player. I was very shocked by their presence, and also appreciative.
After my playing days at A&M were done, I had another semester before graduating. So, in the fall of ’03 I had to go to bonfire cut. I am really glad that I did. Those are some memories that I hope to never forget. It was great to see that ever though the university does not sanction bonfire anymore, the tradition still lives on through the alumni and the students.
