Though the tradition of the bonfire was almost snuffed out a few years ago, it has been rekindled.

By Willow Mills and Bailey Duwenhoegger

Who doesn’t love the Bonfire? I mean, it’s a big fire late at night where we celebrate being Cobblers, but what is the Bonfire really? Why does Central do them, and most importantly, how did the bonfire last Monday night go?

The homecoming bonfire has been a tradition across the country for at least the last 136 years, but Central has done it for at least the last 15. According to Rachel Carroll, a Geometry and Algebra II teacher, in the past “The student council would make a big cardboard version of the letter of whatever school we were playing against. And then we would burn it.”

Instead of the letter, we now typically burn pallets using lighter fluid and a blow torch to get it to light; it typically burns around an hour and a half before the fire department comes in, signaling the end of the night, though most students tend to hang around longer.
The homecoming bonfire is less about the fire and more about hanging out with your friends, classmates, and teachers late at night in a completely different but safe environment.

Carroll said in her time there also was an unspoken agreement among students to learn the “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” dance prior to homecoming. “You were gonna look like a total weirdo if you didn’t know the “Crank That” dance,” said Carroll.

Central does the bonfire every year simply for school spirit and because it is tradition. In the 2024-2025 school year, administration discussed ending the bonfire due to poor participation the previous year, only agreeing to do it due to outcry from the student body. Clearly that was the correct choice seeing as participation has remained high and steady since.

The real question, how did the fire Monday, September 21st, really go? How was participation? And most importantly, will the long loved tradition continue?

Of 2,000~ students around 600 attended the bonfire Monday. We had no data for grades, but based on previous years most of those students were sophomores and juniors. That number is down from last year but that can be expected for a rainy night. Will the tradition continue? As of now the answer is a resounding yes. It’s a deeply loved and celebrated tradition that the student body doesn’t want to lose.