UCOP holiday party wraps up the year with warmth, music and fun
January 6, 2014 •
UC President Napolitano joined the music makers at UCOP’s holiday party festivities.
Everyone reveled in the festivities during UCOP’s annual holiday party Dec. 19, celebrating the season with live music from OP’s own talented employees, good food, Christmas sweater madness and festive cheer.
Staff members donned their best — and often zany — Christmas sweaters for the occasion and donated hundreds of sweaters, coats and jackets to the Let There Be Warmth drive benefiting low-income families and the homeless.
Food was part of the fun, with turkey and snacks both sweet and savory served throughout the building.
Senior leaders served food and drinks, and our own UCOP Singers, the Uke-Cs and violin duo Alida Nattress and Margaret Wu traveled from floor to floor to fill the Franklin building with music throughout the day.
When it came to decking the Franklin halls, some floors took a, shall we say, minimalist approach. Others went all out with winter greenery, traditional ornaments and handmade miniatures in the battle for recognition as the year’s best holiday decoration effort.
The 7th floor’s Winter Wonderland took blew the competition away to win the holiday decoration contest.
The seventh floor’s collaborative display literally blew the competition away to claim victory with its snowy Winter Wonderland, featuring a fan blowing (fake) snow over the bespectacled Roy “SnowNerd” the Snowman against a trees-y, snowy backdrop. Also depicted was a replica of Whoville, where the Grinch left his telltale footprints while trying to abscond with holiday cheer.
“They had a welcoming committee and music — they even threw snowballs at us — and who can forget Roy the Snownerd? It was an extremely collaborative effort,” said Associate Vice President of Business Operations Michael Reese, who headed the judging panel.
The UCOP Singers provided musical entertainment for the day’s events, along with the Uke-Cs and violin duo Alida Nattress and Margaret Wu.
Thanks to all who helped make the holiday party a success, including this year’s holiday party committee, headed by Lorelyn Padojino of the BRC Event Services Group and including Sutton Bennett, Donna Collins, Berni Fitzsimmons, Barbara Heilmann, Michael Kusiak, Paul Lechner, Matthew Leet, Jeanie Urban and a team of UCOP volunteers.
