My Memorable "MINES MOMENT" By:  Greg Staff ('73) It occurred, I believe, during Homecoming 1976. I was working for the school in the Admissions Office at the time, having graduated in 1973 and doing part-time graduate work. My fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, (for whom I was the faculty advisor) had built an immense Homecoming float, which as I recall was a 15-foot high "Mine Shaft to Hell" constructed on a flatbed trailer. Completely surrounding the 40-foot flatbed trailer was the traditional skirt, a 5-foot wide edging made entirely of napkins ‘donated’ by the surrounding fast food establishments. The "Mine Shaft" had several moving parts…pulleys, ropes, etc., which were kept moving by undergraduates inside the shaft pulling strings and pushing levers. Although I am probably biased, the float seemed at the time to be far and away the most intricate and finely decorated of them all, and don’t forget that winning the float competition practically guaranteed the winning of the coveted Homecoming trophy. (Winning this trophy was the "end" that justified the "means," the means being a copious quantity of Coors, which was consumed during the float’s construction.) As the float proceeded down Washington Avenue (driven by a college kid, don’t forget), the fun was to begin. One of the props in the float was minor (miner?) explosion to be set off by a fuse traversing the back half of the trailer. The fuse then entered the mine shaft, lighting the charge and exploding a huge smoke bomb in front of the judge’ stand at Foss Drug. And it worked…BUT… The fuse created sparks, naturally, which caught the interior of the Mine Shaft on fire, and this in turn caught the skirt on fire. These flames were aided and abetted by a panicked driver, who "floored" the semi, madly honking its air horn and accelerating crazily down the street. My vision is that of a speeding, 40-foot long, 15-foot high "torch" screaming down Washington Avenue with guys diving off at every opportunity, as it cut a swath through high school bands, majorettes, and groups of small children, miraculously injuring no on e seriously. The trailer’s brakes melted down and locked up on the Clear Creek Bridge. The fire department was able to save the cab, but not the trailer. I guess the guys were trying to get the fire to the firehouse...what efficiency! The Betas did not win the float competition that year, as they were disqualified for (unintentionally) causing a major disruption of homecoming activities. They did have the dubious honor of being responsible for a few new rules being instituted. (No flames on floats, floats must have fire extinguishers, etc.). I’m sure anybody who witnessed the "Flaming Float of Beta Theta Pi" still remembers it well. Scrapbook of Memories From The Mines Magazine, 1995