Issue date: 7/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Christine Soriaga Every Friday morning, Old Ags have breakfast at the Denny's in College Station. [Click to enlarge]

Muster, First Yell, and Maroon Out are some of the events that makes A&M rich in spirit and tradition. As freshman, many choose their favorite traditions in the first semester, and others create their own traditions.

Members of the graduating class of 1969 started a tradition of having breakfast every week in College Station in 2006.

The members call themselves the Breakfast Club. The club meets each Friday at the Denny's on Texas Avenue, and visit from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.

The tradition started two years ago when Bill Youngkin decided he was seeing too little of his former class members.

"There were a good many of my classmates that were retiring from the corporate world, the military, or selling businesses and returning to Bryan-College Station to retire," Youngkin said, "but we would only see each other occasionally, like at a restaurant or an A&M sporting event."

Classmates like Mike Caudle agreed with Youngkin's idea, and quickly grew a weekly crowd of 12 to 20 people.

"Bill is the co-class agent, and the brainchild for the breakfast meetings," Caudle said. "I am merely one of the regular attendees."

"We tell all our old worn out stories but we still enjoy hearing them," Youngkin said. "But mostly we enjoy each others company."

The club meetings allow the members to reflect on their years at A&M, and update each other

"We talk about the days we were on campus, but we talk more about today and what is happening on the campus of the school we love so much," Youngkin said. "Your affection for A&M increases, not decreases, over the years."

Similar to Muster, and Silver Taps, the Breakfast Club members have a tradition to honor the members of attendees who have passed since the last meeting.

"We are also at the stage in life where we are starting to lose classmates from natural causes on an all too regular basis," Youngkin said. "When we do, and the classmate is one who attended our breakfast group, we set a place for them at the table and that space remains vacant for that meal."

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