TED NUGENT has written the following column for Wacotrib.com:

"Merry Christmas to all! The Nugents are doing fine, thank you. Enough about us.

This time of year always brings up the question from many youngsters to their parents asking if there really is a Santa Claus. The following is a little something I write for my grandchildren, but I hope it will help you explain to other kids, big and small, that Santa Claus is very real.

Santa Claus is an alive spirit — something you can't necessarily see or touch — but rather a loving, selfless, giving spirit that rests within the hearts and souls of good people everywhere.

Look inside a U.S. Marines Corps Toys for Tots truck and you'll find piles of new toys on their way to kids who might not otherwise receive anything for Christmas. Santa Claus put them there. U.S. Marines will deliver them.

Look at the cart near the exit door at the grocery store that has a sign on it requesting a donation of food to the less fortunate. The cart will be full this time of year. The store will need to put out more carts as Christmas draws near. Santa Claus filled those carts with food.

Listen for the Salvation Army bell ringers who stand in front of stores ringing their bells. Watch people drop their hard-earned money into Salvation Army buckets and go about their business. What you are seeing is Santa Claus in action.

Local newspapers, television and radio stations have programs to collect donations to help the less fortunate in your community. If so, watch the tally grow and grow to thousands and thousands of dollars.

Santa Claus donated that money."

Read more here.