Bonfire Question

[Mustang '89]

Are bonfires banned in high school?

Forgive me in advance if the question is dumb, but I left the state for 10 years to join the Army (89-99) and have not really thought about it until now because Manor is having a parade tonight instead of a bonfire for Homecoming.

[Ranger Mom]

If they are, then our school is "breaking the law"...we just had one two weeks ago!

[Mustang '89]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
If they are, then our school is "breaking the law"...we just had one two weeks ago!


I said my question might be dumb, maybe it's just a preference for the school. I'm sure there is some liability attached.

[raider red 2000]

i have never been to a high school bonfire...i think that it would be cool to see, and a great way to get the town involved with the school....some kids dont get a whole lot of support from the town which they represent.

[texcaj]

I don't know if they are truly "illegal" but the school is liable if something goes wrong and it is a school supported function. I know that many schools still have them, they are just off campus and are community bonfires. A lot of schools also don't want to put up with the drinking and stuff that has traditionally gone on with bonfires. If your school is in town there may be some sort of ordinance against it also. It is kind of a sad situation. That was always a fun time of year with bonfire, homecoming and the fair all happening at the same time.

[Ranger Mom]

I think our Principal would be tickled to death if the Powder Puff game AND bonfire would just fade into the sunset. (Ours is held on school grounds).

The Powder Puff game WAS cancelled this year due to the football field being wet.......or was it too wet? ....hmmmm:thinking:

[Junkyard]

The bonfire in Jasper is alive and well and held on school grounds. Homecoming is this week Jasper will have the bonfire Thursday night and then beat Kirbyville Friday night.

Jasper 56
K'ville 0

:D

[Mustang '89]

Originally posted by texcaj
It is kind of a sad situation. That was always a fun time of year with bonfire, homecoming and the fair all happening at the same time.


It was cool getting out of school for the day to collect wood, steal signs and other things.:D We had to start building it the day of, because people from Elgin would came to Manor and burn it down if we built it any earlier. (I really hated Elgin!!!)

Ahhhh...The good old days........

[Bandera YaYa]

Bonfires are alive and well in the Hill Country........through I do think they are not as BIG as the ones we had when i was in school....we worked for weeks, piling high all kinds of stuff.,....stuff you can't use now......we would go to our rivals city and pull up city signs to use on top of pile....would "borrow" their mascot, hiding it until game day.........much fun......innocent fun........ :eek: :D

[southern_thunder]

Ya Ya , I bet you could usually see an old out house on the bonfire also. I know we did in Jasper.

[JasperDog94]

Yeah, but luckily I was never the guy that had to get that thing up there. Especially if it tipped over.:eek: :eek: :eek:

[southern_thunder]

I seem to remember several wooden boats that made it to the bonfire too!!:D

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by southern_thunder
I seem to remember several wooden boats that made it to the bonfire too!!:D Now Spiveyrat and I may take issue with that. That seems like a waste of a perfectly good boat.:mad: ;) ;)

[southern_thunder]

LOL never said it was a good boat!! LOL just a wooden one. :D

It is amazing what you can find out in the woods if you look hard enough.

[Hupernikomen]

Originally posted by Junkyard
The bonfire in Jasper is alive and well and held on school grounds. Homecoming is this week Jasper will have the bonfire Thursday night and then beat Kirbyville Friday night.

Jasper 56
K'ville 0

:D


We had a big bonfire their my senior year of 89. Only one I ever went too so I don't know if they were always that big or not.

[Junkyard]

They are usually pretty big!! and will burn through the night.

[Hupernikomen]

I went to Nederland for a couple of years in the mid 80's and I remember a cheerleader's hair catching on fire. Anyone else remember that can give me more details? I always wondered what happened to cause that.

[onfirebball05mustang]

manor and bonfires-a destructive combo.
I've always thought that it would be a good idea-but we've been forcefed that it's "tradition" to just have the town pep rally and parade....maybe we should try and restart it!?:thinking: :D

[AggieJohn]

there is too much liability in it in my opinion

[Mustang '89]

Originally posted by onfirebball05mustang
manor and bonfires-a destructive combo.
I've always thought that it would be a good idea-but we've been forcefed that it's "tradition" to just have the town pep rally and parade....maybe we should try and restart it!?:thinking: :D

When did this "tradition" start? We never had a parade thru town for Homecoming.
They used to let the whole school out(with a permission slip of course.) and gather wood all day. Used to have it in that open field right down from the baseball field on school grounds.

[j_dog]

Originally posted by Hupernikomen
We had a big bonfire their my senior year of 89. Only one I ever went too so I don't know if they were always that big or not.
what is the statue of limitations for stealing outhouses for the bonfire? :D sorry, i forgot. don't have those things anymore! :clap:

[Bulldog_12]

The biggest thing I have put on our bonfire is a couch. That was pretty heavy too. It was fun to sit on top of the bonfire. Not while it was burning of course.:D

[dawgmom]

My son put a couch on the bonfire this year! And, I have no idea WHAT else! lol....They are still putting stuff on it right now. I hope it is a nice one this year. It's his senior year! :(

[LH Panther Mom]

When I was in school, we always had bonfires. Here, we had a bonfire the first a couple of times after we moved here in 1995. Then, they were getting cancelled because of "burning bans" so we've since discontinued. They have a huge pep rally at the field instead. The intermediate school holds a pep rally for the football & volleyball teams. (There you go, Phil. ;) )

[Ranger354]

We used to do the bonfire thing in Sinton. It was great! Many days spent tracking down wood and all sorts of stuff to put on it. Heck we even had a boat one year up there!

Everything was fine til some people put some of the school equipment (blocking machines) on it one night and burned it.

Now we have the burning of the S. I think it is made of paper and chicken wire or something and seems to work ok. But it will never replace the Bonfire!

[IHStangFan]

Ingleside stopped having bonfires awhile back....probably 5 or 6 years ago or better.....they just plain got TOO BIG! we'd spend the week before the burn collecting wood till all hours....15 or so guys w/ trucks and trailers, hitting up all the places we thought we could find wood...i can remember one year we had a 15 foot skiff on top!! then we'd sleep on our tailgates parked around the burn pile as to not have Aransas Pass (in my day we ALWAYS played AP for homecoming) burn the pile before it was time. ah..the good ole days!

[PPHSfan]

I am still trying to get over the fact that they still have wooden street signs in Elgin.:D