Bonfire at the Corn MazeHomecoming bonfire to take place Thursday night in North Logan
No one knew for sure until Tuesday, but the Homecoming bonfire set for Thursday will go forth in flames.
The final location will be the Green Canyon Corn Maze in North Logan.
“It was barely approved today,” Nic Gordon said Tuesday afternoon. “We finally had the breakthrough.”
Gordon, the Associated Students of Utah State University Organizations and Traditions vice president, said he finally figured it out after three weeks of planning.
“We are starting a new Aggie tradition for Homecoming Week with this bonfire,” Gordon said.
Students may have noticed in the Homecoming fliers that the bonfire location was “to be announced.”
The ambigiuos location came because, last week after finding bonfire approval hard to obtain, Gordon wasn’t even sure the event would materialize.
“We had to go through three state agencies,” Gordon said.
The agencies included the State Fire Marshall, Utah Department of Environmental Quality and State Risk Management.
Previously, Gordon had hoped to hold the bonfire at First Dam in Logan, but with state restrictions on open fires on state land, the location couldn’t be approved.
Instead, the Organizations and Traditions committee found the privately owned corn maze where they could host the bonfire.
Gordon said he gives his thanks to Dale Huffaker for approving the event on short notice.
Dale Huffaker is the director of the USU Risk Management Department, which is coordinated through the State Risk Department. He said he didn’t find out until Friday that the organizers of the bonfire had found a private property to hold the event.
Even though the decision came a little late, everything worked out in the end, Huffaker said.
“We all got on the same page,” he said. “I feel really good about things.”
Before the bonfire could be approved, Huffaker said, the organizers had to follow eight provisions such as finding who will issue the fire permit, who will obtain it and finding the fire safety personnel.
Gordon got the North Logan Fire Department to be on hand for the event.
“He did a good job, going to the North Logan Fire Department,” Huffaker said.
Now that Gordon has everything approved for the bonfire, he plans to set his sights on arranging additions to the event, such as finding live music.
“There will be some type of music,” Gordon assures, although he hasn’t yet found a band.
He said there will also be free hot cocoa served.
“We want it to be an event that will be remembered for years to come,” said Austin Catlin, member of the Organizations and Tradition committee.
“It’s going to be pretty good,” he said. “We’re going to make it as big as they’ll let us.”
“I just hope everybody comes out it,” Catlin said. “The more, the better.”
Although the bonfire will be free, students can get into the Green Canyon Corn Maze for a special discounted price. It will be $3:50 for Thursday night as opposed to $6 for the regular nights.
“I want the bonfire to be part of traditional activities for Homecoming Weeks to come,” Gordon said.
-joelfeathers@cc.usu.edus