Wednesday, December 10
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Smathers Room 100
Here’s a brief overview:
Food
Light Refreshments
This year we’ll be providing light refreshments / appetizers from Publix, beverages, and desserts
Dessert Exchange
Desserts are the most popular part of our Winter Celebration, and this year we are inviting you to bring a favorite dessert to share on Dec. 10th. Let us know what you’ll be bringing, the main ingredients and allergens.
Whether you favor store-bought or home-made treats, we look forward to sharing.
SIGN UP: tinyurl.com/2025WC-Dessert-Exchange
Recipe Book
Share a favorite recipe with your colleagues.
SUBMIT A RECIPE: tinyurl.com/2025WC-Recipe-Book
Friends & Fun
Centerpiece Contest
Stories that spark memory and magic and never melt away.
Pull on your creative hats, get some colleagues, and get ready to enter the Centerpiece Contest. Centerpieces will be displayed at the Winter Celebration on Dec. 10th.
THEME: A Century of Stories: Winter Tales and Timeless Treasures
CATEGORIES:
- Best Story / Best Use of Story
- Coziest Centerpiece
- Most Whimsical / Magical
- Most Unique / “out there” / thought provoking
- People’s choice
SIGN UP by Friday 12/5: tinyurl.com/2025WC-centerpiece-contest
Deliver Physical Centerpiece: In order to be included in the contest, your entry must be brought to Smathers Library, room 100 no later than 12 noon am on Dec. 10
Coloring Pages
Door Prizes
We are reaching out to our favorite businesses to ask for prizes for our virtual raffle. We’ll open the virtual entries the beginning of December.
We were also impressed with the homemade gifts contributed by our employees for the 2025 Convocation. We’d like to offer the same opportunity for the Winter Celebration. From homemade art to vouchers for baked goods, you can sign up to contribute your door prizes here. Everyone is invited to complete our Door Prize Survey, whether or not you’re attending the event in person. The survey will be open until the end of the day on Monday Dec. 1st.
Submissions: tinyurl.com/2025WC-donate-a-prize
Festive Group Photos
The Winter Celebration Committee invites all branches and departments to submit a festive group photo. It can be any theme that ties into the winter celebration (including a Sasquatch or two). This is completely voluntary and a fun way to spread some festive cheer!
Submissions: tinyurl.com/2025WC-group-photo
Photo Match Contest
A fun matching contest where your colleagues will try to pair up a current picture of your favorite holiday themed movie or tv episode.
Submissions tinyurl.com/2025WC-photo-match
Where’s Albert Photo Trivia
Albert is on the move, and we need your help to photograph his location. “Where’s Albert?” photographs will be included in the Winter Celebration slide show on the day of the party where guests will try and guess where Albert is located in each picture.
We are inviting each branch to submit photographs of a stuffed alligator (as seen on the library Homecoming float) posed in a location of your choice on campus or in Gainesville that includes familiar architecture or landmarks but no signage to give away the location. We encourage everyone to have fun with their photos and be as creative as they wish.
Information about how to get Albert to your branch is being coordinated through joint chairs, so look for an email from your branch admin.
Submissions: tinyurl.com/2025WC-wheres-albert
White Elephant Gift Exchange
Bring a wrapped gift, and get ready for fun. Participants take turns selecting gifts, wrapped ones from the table, or one already opened by another participant. Swap and steal your way until everyone has a gift.
The Winter Celebration Planning Committee wants to provide an opportunity for everyone to participate in the White Elephant Gift Exchange. To accommodate this, we plan to hold 2 sessions, one at 12:30 am and one at 2:30 pm.
Sign Up: tinyurl.com/2025WC-White-elephant
White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules
Food Drive & Fundraiser
Field & Fork Food Drive
We are also continuing our yearly branch food donations to the Alan and Cathy Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry. The donation drive will take place Mon. Dec. 1 through Thurs. Dec. 18 and will be collecting nonperishable items for the UF community.
Here is a link to the list pantry wishlist:
Donation boxes will be placed at various branches, and collected on Friday. Dec. 19. Donations will also be collected the day of the celebration.
| BUILDING | BOX LOCATION |
|---|---|
| AFA | Circulation Desk |
| ALF | ALF Processing Room 102A |
| EDU | Circulation Desk |
| HSCL | 2nd Floor, mail/processing area C1-125 |
| ILF | TBD |
| MSL | 2nd Floor, Circulation Desk |
| MSL | 2nd Floor, in front of elevators |
| Smathers | 1st floor, in front of room 100 |
| Smathers | 4th floor, beside room 400A |
| West | 2nd Floor, room 260, in front of room 261 |
| West | 5th floor reception area |
Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry
The Pantry is a free resource for members of the UF community to access supplementary food staples such as bread, nonperishable canned items, frozen meat, and seasonal produce from the Field & Fork Farm and Gardens. It is open to current UF students, faculty, and staff that are experiencing food insecurity. We do not discriminate based on income, class, race, ethnicity, gender, housing status, or ability. We want to assure you that accessing services like the Pantry does not change your self worth. You are never taking resources from someone “more deserving” or “more in need” than themselves.
More About Field & Fork Campus Food Program
The UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Field & Fork Campus Food Program works to provide opportunities for collaboration and learning in sustainable agriculture and food systems. Core parts of this program include the Field & Fork Farm and Gardens and the Alan and Cathy Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry, where students get the opportunity to grow food in a production setting and help provide healthy, fresh food to those in need.
Through Field & Fork, people can take courses and participate in activities that explore many facets of food systems, from horticultural practices and food security, to consumption and nutrition. The program also works with faculty, local organizations, and businesses to enhance opportunities for students to apply their education in real-world contexts through internships and research.