It's the holiday season and everyone is getting gifts prepared for family and loved ones (and I actually have all of my holiday shopping done this year!).

Part of the fun of the season is getting a gift that will surprise the recipient. I know every year I put a little bit of extra effort into a couple of gifts to make certain there is some personal connection --- that the gift will truly mean something special for the person I selected to receive it.

Some youngsters in the surrounding area will certainly be surprised on Christmas morning. That's because they weren't planning on having any gifts for Christmas.

Each year the Wabash community supports the Reindeer program. Families who might not be able to provide gifts for their children can submit names and gift lists to the program. Individual sponsors can then select a child and purchase those gifts, bringing them to the Knowling Fieldhouse where they are distributed.

This year there was an initial list of about 41 children. Yesterday morning our head athletic trainer, Mark Colston, sent out an email letting the Wabash community know that there were an additional 26 names on the Reindeer list that didn't have sponsor.

Here's what didn't surprise. When I ran into Mark later that afternoon, he told me that within an hour all 26 names had been sponsored by someone at Wabash. In fact, he was trying to gather additional names, because so many people came forward to help, but there were no more names on the program list.

Time and time again the Wabash community rallies to help others --- whether it's supporting the Co-motion project during the week of the Monon Bell game, the Reindeer program, or whatever else might be happening on campus to support the surrounding community.

I know I'll have a few surprise in store over the holdiay season (sorry, Sarah and Michelle, I already know what you've gotten me for a holiday gift!). But I'm never surprised to see the true meaning of the season shown once again by the fine people here at Wabash College.