Author's Historical Note: This was written back in 1997, back when I used to get in arguments over things like the size of bonfires. As of February 2002 the guestbook function still seems to be running. I'm not sure if the TAG bonfire is as large as it used to be or not, but in 1997 I saw two eighteen-wheeler loads of wood being unloaded at Sequoyah Caverns and this page was the result. The Dogwood City Grotto is a group of cavers who are supposedly concerned about conserving natural resources. Each year at their annual TAG Cave-In party, attended by upwards of 1,500 people, they demonstrate that commitment. The bonfire at TAG this year is estimated to contain 70 tons of trees. It consists of trees stacked 25 feet high and equally as wide. "Ground Zero" around the fire, where it is too hot for human (or any other living thing's) comfort will be a circle approximately 200 feet in diameter. Those trees cost a lot of money to grow, to cut, to transport, and to stack. That money could go for good causes like the Southeastern Cave Conservancy. Instead that money goes up in smoke that sometimes hangs over the campground like a shroud of death. Seventy tons of trees a year over ten years = 700 tons of lumber. How many acres of forest would that be? How many more will burn in the next ten years? Is a night of glory for a few pyromaniacs worth it? Would people stop coming to the party if the bonfire was a more reasonable size? You decide. Then let the Dogwood City Grotto know by signing the guestbook below. (And if you know why in God's name they burn a beer keg in the fire, feel free to say so.) Give Your Opinions View the Bonfire Guestbook Posted September 26, 1997 by Rodger Ling.