For five years running, I have held a Pumpkin Carving Party on the last saturday before Halloween. I do it to keep my dad's tradition of encouraging people of all ages to gather and socialize around a fun activity. Of course, no such activity can be complete without a good bonfire. Enjoy.
A good buddy got married yesterday on the river in Townsend, and I couldn't make it... he wanted me to show him how to play that game, oh well. Looks like a good time, Matthew!
We use do to do that back when things were good and we had lay over parties for those from the North going South for a weekend!
I did not use any girl scout water though. It was a proper manly fire that started small with kindling then we got to broken pallets and then big pallets. When they ran low, I would lay a tree across the fire, when it burned in half I would flip the ends in.
NASA never called, but I did have the local fire marshal stop for a visit one time. Permit for a campfire? Who knew? Until he had a beer with us he thought I was burning brush illegally. Campfires are OK though.
We had about an acre of hardwoods that was cleared with heavy equipment. Massive pile of trees to dispose of. We used to have pretty regular "campfires" that you didn't want to stand within 20 feet of. The best were in the winter. It would melt 2-3 feet of snow to the ground and leave a perfect snow seat around the fire. Toasty warm with your jacket wide open in the front. Those were great campfires!