"There will always be a bonfire."

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“Although the 1958 Homecoming festivities advertised the “New Look on Campus,” notably the scholastic side of the University, some things haven’t changed and probably never will. Take the Homecoming bonfire, for instance. There will always be a Homecoming bonfire. This year’s bonfire was graced by dancing rally girls, but whether this is a war dance or a rain dance wasn’t clear at press time. In either event its main success was in producing a striking picture for photographer Nathan Bull. The next day Oregon lost the “war” to WSC 6-0 and the rain slashed down in solid sheets.
— Old Oregon, 1958

By 1972, the annual Homecoming bonfire was a thing of the past, done in by City of Eugene regulations against open burning.