In addition to a myriad of school and departmental holiday parties in December, employees from across the TTUHSC Amarillo campus celebrated the holiday season at several fun and unique events.

CANYON PARADE OF LIGHTS

TTUHSC won second place at the Canyon Chamber of Commerce’s Dec. 1 Parade of Lights. Staff members from several departments built and rode the award-winning float. The primary float team consisted of Dena Hair, Hunter Corona, Michael Corona, Harold Bashaw, Lesli Bashaw, Noah Vandergriff, Mike Frost and Dustin Quebedeaux. Facilities & Safety Services donated the use of a TTUHSC truck, trailer and generator.

PEDIATRICS WRAPS FOR EVELINE RIVERS

Faculty, staff and residents from the Department of Pediatrics in Amarillo recently spent an evening wrapping gifts with the Eveline Rivers Christmas Project! Thanks to the efforts of the volunteers, nearly 1,100 gifts were wrapped for Amarillo area homeless and low poverty level children. The non-profit organization gives children winter coats, hats and gloves and helps them experience the joys of Christmas.

TOYS FOR THE BRIDGE

To help collect Christmas gifts for children in need, TTUHSC-Amarillo’s traffic and parking officer Paul Hernandez allowed faculty, staff and students to “pay” their parking tickets in December with toys which he then donated to The Bridge - Children's Advocacy Center the week before Christmas. Hernandez said The Bridge expressed a need for toys for late arrivals and birthdays and were so thankful for the TTUHSC donations that the parking ticket toy drive has been extended through January. The final day to resolve outstanding citations with a donated toy is Thursday, Jan. 31.

SANTA RAIDER RED

The beloved Raider Red visited the Amarillo campus Dec. 1 for a doughnuts-and-coffee alumni mixer. The mixer was a joint event between the Texas Tech University Alumni Association and the TTUHSC Alumni Association. Raider Red was decked out in his finest Santa garb and posed for photos with children and their parents while Texas Tech representatives served free coffee and doughnuts and gave away Texas Tech swag.

DECK THE HALLS

Departments across all TTUHSC campuses were invited to participate in Staff Senate’s “Deck the Hall” holiday door decorating contest. Submissions were compiled into a survey and voted on by fellow staff members. In Amarillo, “Santa’s Workshop” by the Harrington Library (pictured) won in the large category. Terri Wilson, Cindy Harshman, Brenda Ramirez, Skyla Bryant and Ronetta Mills submitted the entry. In addition, “APP Workshop,” submitted by April Hunley, Greg Mann, Kathy Lee and Jennifer Crowell from the Department of Pediatrics, won in the small category.

AIR U FAMILY FUN NIGHT

Many staff members attended a TTUHSC family fun night Dec. 11 at the Air U indoor trampoline and party center. Proceeds from the event were split evenly to benefit the March of Dimes and TTUHSC’s Employee Love Fund (E.L.F.), a not-for-profit organization created to assist TTUHSC employees who may be going through a difficult financial situation, especially during the holiday season.