If you're reading this, you hopefully survived Christmas. This seventh day of this week would be a good one to rest, but I won't be.

Before I invite you to join me in not resting but in celebrating the day after Christmas doing something that doesn't include shopping, it is paramount that I thank a lot of individuals who worked very hard to make Christmas special and memorable for a lot of people in our community.

Christmas is over for most of us. We can put the extra wrapping paper and decorations and Christmas music away for 11 months, or at least until Halloween, but "Benji" Carter won't be joining us. Benji is the big ex-Marine and Santa Claus who has served as the head of the Kankakee County Toy4Tots campaign for the past few years. With the help of some very caring former Marines, friends, businesses and members of the community, this year's campaign provided toys to more than 1,000 local children. I can almost guarantee you that right now he is working on next Christmas.

Then there is State Rep. Lisa Dugan and her family, who have been collecting toys for children for 20 years. They made sure hundreds of kids from this community got something from Santa.

Not only were kids helped -- Christmas Day Inc., of Bourbonnais, and a host of people from the community and businesses, provided free Christmas day dinner to more than 900 people. Just to name a few, Bourbonnais Central Church, Bradley Inn & Suites, Grant Park Community Center, Kankakee Civic Auditorium, Kankakee Lisieux Pastoral Center, Manteno Leo Hassett Center, Momence Community Center, St. Anne North Lake Villa Senior Housing all hosted sit-down dinners.

Certainly, there are other local individuals and organizations that I am not aware of who went above and beyond to exhibit the real meaning of Christmas that deserved to be thanked.

It's the people who define our community. From my somewhat distant vantage point, I have witnessed some very fine people doing extraordinary things again. Christmas, for some weird, unexplainable reason, is not my favorite time of year. So, I do my best to get out of the way and admire those who love Christmas and let them do what they do best -- help others.

Instead of resting tonight, I'll be treating myself to some good old- time entertainment by another outstanding offering from these parts. You are all invited to join me. Let your hair down, put on your dancing shoes, reward yourself and eat some barbeque. Tonight, The Nick Galik Band, a group of very young, talented, musical 20-somethings will be performing on Broadway in Bradley. They play a variety of original, very catchy music that crosses all generations. If you like blues, rock, funk, reggae, they can do it and do it well. Having heard them perform more than once, I look forward to closing my eyes and listening to their sound. They perform music you would expect to hear from guys with decades of experience but without the ego. How they know so much about the blues at such a young age is another thing. Maybe having a high school sweetheart leave you teaches you a thing or two about life. It's very refreshing to see young people making music that doesn't include, degradation, shooting or raping someone.

After that, I'll be preparing for next year. It seems just like yesterday we were talking about Y2K and trying to relearn to spell millennium. Hey, I actually spelled it without the help of spellcheck. It's been one heck of a decade, but that's a topic for another Saturday.

Again, a big hats off to everyone who helped make this Christmas special for someone else.

Ron Jackson is a regular columnist for The Daily Journal and can be reached at rjackson@daily-journal.com