Yule Log Celebration

Option 1: Decorate a paper dove

• Download and print out a paper dove (pdf). 
• Decorate it however you'd like, along with your message of gratitude.
• Snap a photo and post it to your public Twitter or Instagram using #wmYuleLog, or submit it to us. 

Option 2: Design your digital dove in PowerPoint

• Download the PowerPoint presentation and select a template (ppt).
• Add your message of gratitude and export the slide as a .jpg and post it to your public Twitter or Instagram using #wmYuleLog, or submit it to us.

Option 3: Select an image template and add your text

Select an image to enlarge. Hold down the enlarged image to save to a phone. Right-click or drag the enlarged image to save to your desktop. Then use an image editor of your choice to add your message of gratitude and upload to Twitter or Instagram using #wmYuleLog, or submit it to us.

Gratitude Giveaway

Share your messages of gratitude and upload to Twitter or Instagram using #wmYuleLog, or submit it to us, and you’ll be automatically entered in a random giveaway of an exclusive 10"x8" festive W&M Wren Building watercolor print designed by Sofia Fowler ’14!

About Virgie Williams

Virgie Williams (née Webb) owned and operated The Triangle Restaurant, also known as the Paradise Cafe, in Williamsburg’s Triangle District. Once a cultural hub and business center for the Williamsburg Black community, the Triangle District was redeveloped by the City of Williamsburg during a 1970s urban renewal project. Williams was a graduate of the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (now Virginia State University), a historically Black college located in Petersburg, VA. These handwritten recipes were recorded in Williams’s 1926 home economics and cooking notebooks. An entrepreneur, teacher, and devote parishioner at the First Baptist Church, Williams was an invaluable member of the Williamsburg community. 

Virgie Williams’s daughter, QuoVadis Wright, kept historical records of Williamsburg’s Black community. Wishing to make her records accessible, Wright donated her collected histories and family papers to Swem Special Collections Research Center. The Lemon Project and Dr. Jody Allen facilitated Swem Special Collections’ 2016 acquisition of Wright’s papers. In addition to her mother’s recipes, the QuoVadis Wright Family Papers include photographs, sketches, and handwritten reflections. In a 2016 Virginia Gazette article, “Recalling how the past paved way for present,” Wright detailed her experiences as a Williamsburg resident. Read her account of life during segregation and notes of changes she saw within the Williamsburg community.

As an independent project, senior students in William & Mary’s undergraduate American Studies Program researched the history of the Triangle District. View their compiled research and learn more about local Black history, the Triangle Block, Williams and other Black entrepreneurs.

Cocoa

Ingredients:
¼ C. cocoa
3 C. milk
1 C. water
¼ to ½ C. sugar
¼ tsp. salt

Instructions:
Mix cocoa and water and boil for 10 min. Add the milk and sugar to the mixture, and cook over hot water for ½ hour. Add salt, beat well and serve. Vanilla may be added if desired.

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Dutch Apple Cake

Ingredients:
2 C. flour
½ tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
½ C. butter
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
⅔ C. milk
2 sour apples
2 tsp. sugar

Instructions:
Mix and sift dry materials except sugar and cinnamon, cut or rub in butter, add the milk and beaten egg. Spread ½ inch thick on a shallow pan, pare and cut the apples in sections lengthwise and set in rows on the dough with edges pressed lightly into the dough. Sprinkle the top with sugar and cinnamon. Bake in a hot oven (450°F) 25 or 30 minutes. Serve hot with lemon or hard sauce.

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
½ C. milk
1 C. raisins (and nuts)  
1 tsp. vanilla
½ C. melted butter
1 even tsp. soda
2 C. flour
3 squares chocolate

Instructions:
Mix the melted butter with sugar. Add the beaten yolk and melted chocolate to this. Add soda to milk and then add milk to ½ the flour to the sugar and eggs. Mix well. Add the raisins with the remainder of the flour. Add beaten whites and vanilla and beat well. Drop from the spoon to bake on buttered baking sheets. (May be frosted with fudge frosting.)

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:
2 C. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2-4 tblsp. shortening
⅔-¾ cup liquid (half milk + half water)

Instructions:
Mix and sift dry ingredients, cut in the shortening, lightly work in the milk and water mixture, and treat as follows. Roll to ¼ inch thickness; spread with melted butter and then a layer of cinnamon and sugar mixture (raisins may be added if desired). Roll the dough (as a jelly roll) and cut off ½ inch slices. Place these, cut surface down on baking pan or in muffin rings. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on the top of each roll; allow to stand 11 minutes and bake in a hot oven (450°F) 12 minutes. Note: instead of cinnamon and sugar mixture one may use butter and brown sugar, butter and jelly or preserves, or maple sugar and nut mixture.

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Enjoy the sights and sounds of a fire in the Great Hall fireplace

The burning of the Yule log within the fireplace of the Great Hall of the Wren Building is a highlight of this annual ceremony. Now you can watch a video of the lit fireplace anytime, or cast it on a screen to set the mood for your own Yule log watch party.

Love holiday music? Bring the joy of W&M a cappella into your celebration and watch a special version featuring performances by the Botetourt Chamber Singers, Accidentals and The Gentlemen of the College.

Check out our festive stickers and GIFs

• Explore the W&M GIPHY channel for all the festive GIFs and stickers available for #wmYuleLog.
• Add W&M-themed stickers to your Stories — search your favorite apps for #wmYuleLog or #williamandmary stickers.
• Download the W&M Mobile app to get the full W&M sticker pack for iOS in your Messages and FaceTime apps.

Consider giving to Avalon Center

Each year the students of Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board select an organization to be the focus of their annual Yule Log philanthropy. This year the students have chosen the Avalon Center, an important organization in the Williamsburg community that many W&M clubs, including Someone You Know, work with and support.

Make A Gift

Include "W&M Yule Log" in the comments area so Avalon can know where the donation came from.

Avalon Center works to end domestic and sexual violence by breaking the cycle of abuse through prevention, education, shelter, and support services in the greater Williamsburg and Middle Peninsula communities. By offering tools for safety, self-sufficiency, and empowerment, Avalon helps break the cycle of abuse and build a stronger, healthier community.

Participate in the alumni celebrations

The W&M Alumni Association is hosting Yule Log celebrations in select cities nationwide:

• W&M Colorado - Monday, Dec. 6, 6:30 p.m. at Farm House at Breckenridge Brewery
• W&M Atlanta - Tuesday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m. at FADÓ Midtown
• W&M Charlottesville-Highlands - Wednesday, Dec. 8, 6 p.m. at The Wool Factory
• W&M Charlotte - Thursday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m. at the Home of Rebecca McBride Klepser '99 and David Klepser '97
• W&M Triangle - Thursday, Dec. 9, 6:30 p.m. at Cloer Family Vineyards
• W&M Columbia, SC - Saturday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m. at the Home of Meg Southern '12
• W&M Charleston-Lowcountry - Sunday, Dec. 12, 4 p.m. at the Home of Bob Kelly '69 and Barb Kelly
• W&M Chicago - Sunday, Dec. 12, 4 p.m. at Lincoln Parks Zoo's ZooLights
• W&M Boston - Tuesday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m. at Distraction Brewery Co.
• W&M DC Metro - Thursday, Dec. 16, 7 p.m. at the D.C. Bar Association
• W&M Madison, WI - Thursday, Dec. 16, 6 p.m. at the Great Dane Pub-Hilldale

Learn more & register

Program

• Prelude featuring music from the William & Mary Choir.
• Welcome featuring Caroline Morin ‘22, Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa and Emily Topness ‘22, Vice President of Mortar Board.
• Land acknowledgement read by the American Indian Student Association and acknowledgement of the role of enslaved people in William & Mary’s history by the Lemon Project.
• "’Twas the Night After Finals" featuring Ginger Ambler ’88, Ph.D. ’06, Vice President for Student Affairs.
• Holiday songs featuring the Intonations. 
• Reflections on Peace, Joy, and Gratitude featuring the the Black Student Organization, Catholic Campus Ministry, W&M Hillel, the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain Students Association, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the Latin American Student Union and the Muslim Student Association.
• Holiday reading featuring President Katherine A. Rowe.
• “Let It Go” sing-along featuring the Barksdale Treble Chorus. 
• Asian Centennial Commemoration featuring the Asian American Student Initiative, the Chinese Student Organization, the Filipino American Student Association, the Korean American Student Association, the South Asian Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association.
• Tradition of the yule log featuring Jeannette Lundberg ‘22, President of Mortar Board, and Cody Armstrong ‘22, Member of Omicron Delta Kappa.
• Yuletide Medley featuring the Gentlemen of the College.
• Log procession and the Alma Mater led by the W&M Choir.
• Tossing of the holly.
• Following the ceremony, all are invited to listen to live music by the Wham Bam Big Band, the Cleftomaniacs and the Gentlemen of the College.