As the Revolution offices close for the Christmas holiday this week, we wanted to wish all of our fans a very happy and warm holiday season that leads to many wonderful memories. We polled the staff, and got some of our favorite memories to share with you, our extended family:
“My favorite Christmas memories have to be the first Christmases with each of my two children. My favorite present was the time that I received my first pair of Copa Mundial cleats. There weren't too many legit cleats back then and so this was my first pair of really nice cleats.”
- Brian Bilello, Chief Operating Officer
“Growing up my parents always had Christmas Eve dinner at their house. I always loved the meal and spending time with our relatives on Christmas Eve. Today, this is still tradition but enjoy it even more as my own children are now part of the tradition.”
- Mike Burns, Vice President of Player Personnel
“A tradition from my home town in Ireland was that on Christmas morning, everyone has an open house. The family would spend the entire morning (and a little bit of the afternoon) visiting friends and family in our small town. Of course, a Christmas libation was enjoyed at each stop, to be social, and then we would return home for the full traditional Christmas dinner with all the works. The start of dinner was often delayed by an hour or two, depending on how many stops there were on the open house tour.”
- Cathal Conlon, Director of Marketing
“Some of my favorite memories are from nearly 20 years ago when I was discovering how differently my wife Liz’s family celebrated the holidays from the way mine did. Central Pennsylvania is certainly more old-fashioned and traditional than where I grew up, and the fact that her parents lived in a 17th-century farmhouse in the country only augmented the feeling that we were celebrating the holidays in some place where time stood still. There was something very private and respectful - almost hypnotic - about it all and the atmosphere definitely made the family feel closer together.”
- Brad Feldman, Supervising Producer and Voice of the Revolution
“The best part about the holidays for me is coming up with something that will blow my kids away when they open it and then watching the looks on their faces when they open their ‘big gift’.”
- James Mullins, Director of Ticket Sales
“When I was a senior in college, we had Christmas on Martha’s Vineyard at my grandmother’s house, and it was the last time we had absolutely everyone together – all 12 of us in my small family. On Christmas Eve night, someone had mistakenly shut off the switch for the furnace (the big red one that says for emergencies only!) instead of the basement light. Once we were up in the morning, it took about a half-hour to first figure out why the house was so cold, and another two hours or so to get the temperature back up. We opened gifts in front of a crackling fire place, and my grandmother had copies printed of the children’s book my aunt had written before she passed away and gave us each a copy. We all still talk about that Christmas every year.”
- Lizz Summers, Director of Communications
“I have a small family, so what I enjoy about the holidays is just hanging out with all of my favorite people. When we were kids, we’d go to my grandmother’s place in Boston on Christmas, and now my brother and I switch off every year hosting Christmas Eve with our parents and our wives and kids. And of course, for late evening on Christmas Eve or day, a hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps is my favorite holiday adult beverage tradition.”
- Jason Dalrymple, Web Content Manager
“When it comes to Christmas, I’m all about tradition. Family and friends would probably tell you I’m not a huge fan of change in general, but on Christmas, there are very few exceptions. I’m not sure exactly when my father first read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ to the family before my brother and I headed off to bed on Christmas Eve, but the evidence (an adorable picture of my father with book in hand, my brother on one knee and I on the other, both of us decked out in our pajamas, spellbound by the words and pictures) suggests it was a long time ago. I don’t know if it was intended to become a Christmas tradition at the time, but at the height of my belief in Santa Claus, I simply couldn’t go to sleep on Christmas Eve without my father’s reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.’ Then one year – probably around middle school – I followed my father with a reading of ‘The Polar Express.’ My grandmother, parents and brother – even after he was old enough to have better things to do – would gather in the living room late on Christmas Eve to listen as I read the story of the magical train which carried children to The North Pole. To this day, I still love both stories. My parents have the original copies of the books – the same ones we’ve been reading for years – which I’ll undoubtedly unearth when I make my way home for yet another Christmas. This Christmas Eve, I’m sure my family will once again gather in the living room for readings of the two classic holiday tales, my father with ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ and I with ‘The Polar Express.’ It just wouldn’t be Christmas otherwise.”
-Jeff Lemieux, Staff Writer & Online Host
“Boxing Day! December 26 is the big tradition both in our family and the rest of the UK. I have big memories going to a football game every year on that day, a noon game with my mates, and then heading back home for a Boxing Day Party. Quality!”
- Deven Apajee, Academy Director/U18s Assistant Coach
“Sitting down with the family after Christmas Dinner (and the Queen’s Speech) to watch the ‘Only Fools & Horses’ annual Christmas Special on the BBC.”
-Gary Hall, Academy Manager/U16s Assistant Coach
“Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year! We always get together with my mom’s side of the family and have a big Italian Christmas - seven fishes and all. As kids (and we may or may not still do this …) my brother, cousins and I would pile up all our presents and count them to see who had the most. Each year, we take a big family picture in front of the Christmas tree, and we love to go back and look at the pictures and see how much everyone has changed through the years.”
- Jackie Bene, Customer Service Manager
“Christmas 1980, Boca Raton, Florida: My parents surprised me with my first dog, a golden retriever that I named Seabiscuit.”
- Mike Dressler, Group Sales Manager
“One year when I was little, my brother and I got a Playstation from my parents, and an N64 from our grandparents. That's pretty much all a kid could ever ask for.”
- Eddie Ross, Package Sales Manager
“A quote from ‘Elf’ pretty much sums up my thoughts on Christmas: ‘First we made snow angels for two hours, then we went ice skating, then we ate a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we could, and then we snuggled’.”
-Dan Collins, Account Executive
“I have to say my favorite Christmas gift was my Authentic Tom Brady jersey back in 2002. It will be something I definitely hold onto forever.”
- Tim Francis, Account Executive
“My favorite holiday memory was going to Christmas eve mass with my grandmother, she loved to sing all the Christmas songs.”
- Rachel Hansen, Account Executive
“My favorite holiday tradition is getting together with family at my grandparent’s home in New Jersey every year with 20+ family members. We fill the floor with sleeping bags and air mattress, have a huge dinner and enjoy traveling into NYC or all going to see a movie.”
-Kyle Lindsay, Account Executive
“Every year on Christmas Eve my family and I go to Venda Ravioli on Federal Hill in Providence to have lunch and pick up the ingredients for dinner that night.”
-Paul Phelps, Account Executive
“I used to love seeing my grandfather dress up as Santa when I was a little kid.”
-Richard Powell, Account Executive
“My favorite holiday tradition was playing hot and cold to find our hidden Hanukkah presents (with no tree, we used to hide our presents). One year, my brother and I found the hiding spots for our presents before Hanukkah and it was the same year that CDs and CD players were replacing cassette tapes. Our parents bought us a 6-slot CD player and a couple of CDs (Coolio and TLC, who were both popular at the time). The CD player was MASSIVE and I remember being so giddy and excited when we found it and also remember being very eager to hear how a CD sounded.”
-Mike Schumsker, Account Executive
“As a kid, I used to love watching my Dad fight with the 30-foot tree in our cul de sac to put up lights for the neighborhood.”
-Jay Wilson, Account Executive
“One of my favorite holiday traditions growing up was doing early Christmas dinners at my grandfather's. It was a great chance to hang out with my family, but allowed me to be hungry enough later to go out for Chinese food with my friends - the best of both worlds!”
-Tavis Cabral, Customer Service Representative
“Every Christmas Eve my mother gives us a pair of Christmas themed pajamas to wear that night.”
-Brittany Josselyn, Customer Service Representative
“My favorite holiday memory is coming down Christmas morning at my grandparents’ house and seeing the footprints Santa Claus had left after coming down the chimney. You honestly could not imagine a more excited and amazed little kid at that moment.”
-Ross Mehalko, Customer Service Representative
“One of my favorite holiday memories is taking a day off from school every year right before Christmas to stay home and bake cookies with my Mom.”
-Cait Ramsay, Customer Service Representative
“Every Christmas my family has a Yankee Swap. The running joke with the grab is that each year there is one returning gift (a mannequin head) which no one wants. ‘The Head,’ as it has come to be known, is returned to the grab year-after-year with the previous year’s recipient doing their best to disguise and hide it with one of their gifts and then reveal it at the end of the swap.”
- Ron Bower, Insides Sales Representative
