News-Record.com

Last month, in anticipation of Christmas shopping season, our features department borrowed an idea from The Washington Post and asked readers to design their own wrapping paper. We made it hard, too. The entries had to be handmade, not computer-generated, and couldn't use commercial characters.

Using my usual crack editorial insight, I thought to myself, "Oh, that's going to fall flat. Nobody is going to go to the trouble to do that."

Ninety-six entries later, I'm feeling like I felt when I once tried to wrap a squishy stuffed elephant: clueless.

"It was just different and it seemed like fun," said features editor Susan Ladd, who, with writer Katie Reetz, organized the project. "We know that people like to do artwork and some clearly spent a lot of time putting the entry together." The winner -- and selections of the wrapping paper -- will be featured Sunday.

Now the Central Library has asked -- and we've agreed -- if they could display the entries in a window, as they did for the poems about baseball readers submitted last year.

I write often about the value of interactivity, but I'm primarily writing about using online to create a sense of community. My mistake. Interactivity isn't defined by the medium. If the idea is good enough people will respond. They like to participate, show their creativity, share their talent. It's part of community. We're delighted to be able to help enable that.

The next Sunday, Christmas Eve, we're publishing some of the results of the photos of unhappy children with Santa. 245 entries, and if they don't bring a smile to your face, you may just have to see how the Whos down in Whoville are doing.