A Very Merry Virtu-Yule at Cecil's Uncle's Crazy Tavern 3

It’s another year come and gone, and this one was truly unique. Virtual events are a bit of a strange beast, but I see that every iteration improves on what we have done before. We might not have been in the same room, but for one night we still got to be together.

We tried to stuff as much of the usual Uncle Cecil’s merriment into our virtual event as possible. We still had huge group activities, people surprised they were drunk at 7 p.m., holiday decorations, intimate chats, presents, (virtual) snowball fights, caroling, spontaneous inside jokes, and all of the general shenanigans people have come to expect. I know that I have not seen so many faces since the start of quarantine, and it was a really good feeling to smile and laugh as part of a group.

We tried something new with the event, and we provided a paid Event-in-a-Box for those who wanted one. Our goal was to create shared real-world experiences to break through our isolation. Each box was packed with Uncle Cecil’s paraphernalia - ingredients for a cocktail/mocktail for First Toast, decorations, cookies for the tree (and your mouth), a custom ornament to commemorate the celebration, Christmas crackers, some applesauce direct from Cecil’s kitchen, custom-made UCCT coloring pages, puzzles, carols, spiked hot cocoa, and as many little bits of love as we could think to throw together. The boxes were delivered by members of staff, along with Pater Yule presents and gift swap gifts.

But in the end, UCCT is about the people. This year was small by UCCT standards - 68 by my count - but that’s pretty huge for a virtual event! It was a real joy to see so many people hopping on video chat and enjoying each other’s company.

As with any year at UCCT, there are people beyond the core event staff to call out for thanks. This event could not happen without the help of these people and more:
* Jason Gray for designing, making, and donating his time and materials for the UCCT ornaments included in everyone's Event-In-A-Boxes
* Ryan Welch for his last-minute help with marshaling and setup of the Minecraft content
* Patrick Morgan for helping get everyone logged onto the Minecraft server
* Tyler Chase for perennially going above and beyond with our charity auction and gift swap
* All of our friends who donated Event-in-a-Boxes to those who needed some holiday cheer

I want to also give a special shout-out to the core UCCT staff who took a big leap of faith with me this year. It’s one thing to throw a virtual event. It is an entirely different beast to add a physical component on top of that and deliver it across New England and beyond. They could have said no. They could have said it was too much. Instead, they said, “Let’s make something special.” I don’t know how I got so lucky to have such a team.

Looking forward, we have already booked Ye Olde Commons for next year. Assuming that the pandemic is sufficiently in decline, we will be back to in-person Yuletide shenanigans at *A Very Merry Yule at Crazy Uncle Cecil’s Tavern 1*.

Warmest regards,
Matt, Kelly, Beth, Becky, Pat, Sean, and Mike