Part of my job as editor of Semper Fi, the bimonthly magazine of our client, the Marine Corps League, is keeping up with Marine Corps news. Fortunately, the Corps has also seen the advantage of strong public relations and has a robust site that brings in a steady stream of Marine related news and photos from around the world.

With Christmas nigh, this item about the National Christmas Tree Association’s Trees for Troops program caught my eye today. The moving account of one family's dealing with their grief from losing a grandson by bringing Christmas to other young men and women in harm's way deserves that unique Marine approval: OORAH!

Very early on Saturday, Dec. 15, my wife, Wilda, and I bundled up and went to the Gallatin, TN, Wal-Mart to take part in the Rotary Club's annual shopping with needy kids event. At 6 a.m., more than 100 sleepy-looking children, with parents and siblings in tow, began fanning out through the Super Wal-Mart. The kids each get about $125 to spend: they have to buy some clothes for themselves and cannot buy electronics, but otherwise can spend it as they see fit. The families are screened to make sure they are needy and are not being aided in a similar way by other organizations. The families also get a shopping cart overflowing with food. One year, my wife saw a little guy gaze at the cart and then say in an awed whisper to his mother, "Mom! We've got a whole gallon of milk!"

Another year, a family admitted with great embarrassment to the daughter of a Rotarian who was shopping with them that they didn't have a working fridge. The daughter informed her parents that they were buying a refrigerator, and within a few hours it was in the home, filled with food. This is a true family event - Rotarians' spouses, children, significant others and friends pitch in to help. The Interact Club, a high-school version of Rotary, also join in, bringing along their parents and friends. The Rotary Club puts on a major fund-raising dinner-auction event each year to help pay for it, and it has been enormously successful, guaranteeing Christmas for needy families. My wife and I don't have any children - after the first time we did this around 7 years ago, we agreed that this is Christmas. Everything else is literally window-dressing. (See the full set of photos.) If you've never done something like this, I recommend trying it out - it puts an incredible perspective on the meaning of the season.

A couple years ago I took up ballroom dancing - before Dancing With the Stars hit the US airwaves. Occasionally, the studio where I take lessons does skits. They did a Christmas skit recently, the setting was at a Christmas party at someone's home. My role was as the overenthusiastic Christmas junky - nay, dweeb. I didn't have a pair of bright red plaid pants to wear, so I found a funny Santa hat and, well, see for yourself.

While my principal job here is editing Semper Fi, the Magazine of the Marine Corps League, I sometimes get a chance to write articles for some of our other publications, such as American Spirit. Fellow editor Jamie Roberts consistently comes up with interesting topics that combine my interest in history with a curiosity about how things work.

Right now, I'm researching a piece on how our modern calendar came about (and yes, I am past the deadline). Although the Gregorian calendar was formulated in the 16th century, it was not immediately or universally adopted. In fact, it was the middle of the 18th century before it became the official calendar of Great Britain, and, by extension, the American Colonies. The change made a number of days simply disappear, and researchers of all sorts, from historians and genealogists, have to keep calendar shifts in mind in their studies.

The topic of the calendar is particularly apt right now, as we approach the winter solstice on Dec. 22 and the New Year (which wasn't always January 1). Hammock's offices will be closing on Dec. 21 and will reopen on Jan. 2. Though we will be taking a good rest, we will also be checking e-mail and phone messages. And I will be finishing that article.

Until then, best of the holidays to you and yours!

My town, Gallatin, TN, is building a new public library. It's long overdue - people have tried for years to get a campaign under way, and it finally took off a couple years ago. This past year saw us raise around $2 million which will be matched equally by the city and the county. The library is going up in the heart of downtown - a somewhat controversial decision given that small town downtowns like ours are under pressure from development in the suburbs and on former farms. The decision to put it there is a testament to the success of stakeholders in keeping downtown alive and sparking a rebirth.

Here's a link to a webcam showing progress on the construction. They are not ready for the topping out ceremony, but felt that the season demanded having a Christmas tree on the ironwork, reminding passersby that reading is a gift beyond compare.

There's also a page with some earlier drawings of what it will look like when completed sometime either late this year or early next year. Stay tuned!