A record 2,007 tickets -- 500 more than last year -- were sold for the Feb. 12 Winter Employee Celebration Day -- and many of the ticket holders turned out to watch Cornell's women's ice hockey champions handily defeat Yale, 7-1, at Lynah Rink just before going to the community dinner in the Ramin Room of Bartels Hall.

In addition to enjoying the chicken parmesan and pasta dinner, faculty, staff, retirees and their families were entertained by McGruff the Crime Dog, Crossroad Clown and Cornell cheerleaders. Also featured at the community dinner were door prizes, displays and activities sponsored by Cornell Police, Environmental Health and Safety, Transportation and Mail Services, the Department of Athletics and Physical Education, the Employee Assembly, the Division of Human Resources, 5R Operations and the United Way.

"I'd especially like to thank Cornell Catering, Athletics and Building Care for the extra effort it took to prepare dinner for this large number of people," said Cheryl McGraw, manager for employee outreach and connections and coordinator of Employee Celebration Day. McGraw also thanked the planning team, including new members Carol Komaromi, Laura Haley and Tammy Lopez, and the more than 100 Cornell staff, faculty, retirees and students who volunteered for the event.

The evening wrapped up at the men's basketball game, where during halftime, staff members and students working on this year's Cornell United Way Campaign presented a check for $792,637 to the United Way of Tompkins County as Cornell's contribution. Cornell lost the game to Princeton, 55-57, in the final seconds.