Yuletide Cheer

“With hearts full of joy, we all gather around, to toast to old friendships and new ones just found.”

So begins this year’s festive poem, read aloud at regional Yule Log celebrations around the country this December. The W&M Alumni Association brought this cherished William & Mary tradition to alumni and friends in 29 cities this year. Our community gathered in homes, at restaurants and at favorite local venues to celebrate the season together, William & Mary style.

In Richmond, Virginia, Yule Log included experiencing a festival of lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. In Charleston, South Carolina, an event hosted by Bob Kelly ’69 and Barb Kelly at their home included throwing holly from campus into a roaring Yule Log fire. In New York City, alumni and friends gathered at the Cornell Club, and in Williamsburg, attendees watched Colonial Williamsburg’s Grand Illumination fireworks from the President’s Suite in Zable Stadium.

Alumni worldwide also livestreamed the campus celebration, where students tossed holly into the fire in the Great Hall of the Wren Building, heard a holiday reading from President Katherine Rowe and enjoyed music from campus groups. Watch the recording at wm.edu/yulelog.

“Yule Log was always such an important time each year when we were students. Everyone was wrapping up the season, spending so much time in Swem studying for finals, and it was a way to just relax and spend time with friends,” says Rob Tisdale ’08, who hosted a Yule Log event in local favorite Big Snug at Lansdowne Pub in Boston. “We may not all be in school anymore and focused on finals, but it’s still an important time to step back from the stresses of our lives, relax, relive the great memories outside of Wren and make new ones.”