We all have our favorite holiday traditions, and our Publix leadership is no different! We asked these leaders about their holiday season favorites.
CEO Todd Jones
What is your favorite holiday …
- Movie? “A Christmas Story”
- Tradition? Arranging Christmas presents in a pile in front of each other and taking turns opening them
- Dish or meal? The Thanksgiving turkey
- Cookie? Buckeyes
- Memory? Dressing up as Santa one year and running into my kids’ rooms after midnight
- Gift you’ve given or received? Being able to give to others
- Decoration? My wife decorates our house for all major holidays, and I enjoy them all.
President Kevin Murphy
What is your favorite holiday …
- Movie? “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
- Tradition? Watching football on holidays
- Dish or meal? Publix Premium Standing Rib Roast
- Cookie? Peanut butter blossom
- Memory? Being together with the whole family when I was younger
- Gift you’ve given or received? A bike
- Decoration? Christmas tree
Atlanta Division Vice President Joe DiBenedetto
What is your favorite holiday …
- Movie? No doubt about it, “Home Alone”
- Song? “The Prayer” by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli
- Cookie? Snowballs, also known as Mexican wedding cookies
- Memory? Reading Santa’s letters to our daughters on Christmas morning
- Gift you’ve given or received? My first two-wheel Schwinn Stingray bicycle in second grade
- Decoration? Our daughters’ custom-made Christmas ornaments — made by each of them in elementary school. These continue to have a place on our tree each year.
Charlotte Division Vice President Chuck Roskovich
What is your favorite holiday …
- Movie? As a kid, I always looked forward to “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I still do.
- Song? It’s a toss up between Bob Seger’s version of “The Little Drummer Boy” and Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Nettles’ version of “Do You Hear What I Hear.”
- Tradition? As a family, going to pick out the Christmas tree. But my favorite tradition when I was younger was Christmas morning when my sisters and I would wait on my dad to get his Super 8 movie camera set up to film us coming down the stairs and throughout the day. I did the same with my children, and we now enjoy watching home movies during the holidays!
- Dish or meal? Growing up, we always had ham on Christmas. Today, it’s our Publix Premium Standing Rib Roast.
- Memory? When our children were in elementary school, they would buy my wife and me a gift. I really enjoyed how happy and pleased they were when we opened them. We have kept all of them to this day, and I have it on video.
- Gift you’ve given or received? In first grade, we made a gift for our parents of our handprints in plaster in a pie tin. I was so excited to give it to my parents. They kept it for 40 years and gave it back to me. I have it in my home office and every time I look at it, it makes me smile.
Lakeland Division Vice President Sam Pero
What is your favorite holiday …
- Movie? “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
- Song? “Feliz Navidad”
- Tradition? The whole family decorating the tree
- Dish or meal? Being Italian, on Christmas Eve we have a seafood dinner of mostly crab, shrimp, clams and pasta.
- Memory? When my sons were young, we bought them a boxer puppy. Their excitement was incredible.
- Gift you’ve given or received? Took the whole family on a ski vacation to Colorado during the Christmas week
Jacksonville Division Vice President Scott Brubaker
What is your favorite holiday …
- Movie? When I was a child, it was “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” As I have gotten older, I love to watch “Miracle on 34th Street.”
- Song? Traditional Christmas carols, but I love “The Little Drummer Boy”
- Tradition? We go to Christmas Eve service, then invite friends and family over to eat chili and light appetizers, and decorate Christmas cookies.
- Cookie? My grandma would make a cookie she called sand tarts. Now, my wife makes them. We also love to decorate cookies with the family.
- Memory? Sitting on the couch as a kid, waiting for my grandparents to arrive so we could open gifts. It seemed like hours, and they only lived 25 minutes away.
- Gift you’ve given or received? I love to give gifts. For me, it’s something someone would not buy for themselves because that’s a true gift. My favorite gift I got when I was young was a chemistry set.
Miami Division Vice President John Goff
What is your favorite holiday …
- Song? Bruce Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”
- Tradition? Opening presents on Christmas Eve
- Dish or meal? My wife’s candied sweet potatoes
- Cookie? My mom’s homemade fudge with pecans
- Memory? Having holiday meals with the family. We always try to get together during the holidays despite the distance that separates us.
- Decoration? An old, plastic light-up Santa
