SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — For Jane Deer, making a list and checking it twice is neither naughty nor nice.

It's necessary — the only way to make sure the gifts at the Springfield Rotary Club's Christmas Party bring a gleam to the holidays of children from multi-disabled classes.

The club's 85th annual party will begin at 11 a.m. today at the HPER Center at Wittenberg University.

"We're going to have about 110 kids this year," said Deer, executive director for the club's Services to People with Disabilities program.

Her goal is for each child to have a toy that's just right.

Because their abilities vary so widely, "you can't go by age," Deer said, "especially with the autistic kids who have their own special interests."

"There's a lot of music. Music reaches out to them."

Other children are tactile, and so toys with textures top their list, she said.

Last year, while at an art museum in Columbus, Deer spotted the perfect sort of gift for a child who is deaf and in a wheelchair: a vibrating ball with lights inside.

Like the individual education plan developed for the students at school, the individual gift plan makes sure the presents are "very well tailored," Deer said.

The result is not lost on those who receive them.

"The kids remember," she said.

Teachers tell her that students start asking about the party when school begins in the fall.

And when Deer walks into their classrooms — which she does each year to meet with teachers and prepare for the party — "they'll say 'Christmas lady's here,' " she said.

Deer smiles while telling the story of one well-satisfied Rotary guest who spotted her, rubbed his stomach and said "pot pies," correctly naming the dish that had been served at the most recent party.

"Even with the lunch," Deer said, "I find out which kids have allergies — there are a lot of allergies — and if they have to have a diabetic treat bag or have a peanut allergy."

The goal of all this is clear.

"What we're trying to do is give a party in a setting specifically geared for MD kids, where their disabilities will not even enter their minds or make them feel differently than any other party-goers," she said.

The party is meant to be a place "where being vision- or hearing-impaired or in a wheelchair or any combination of factors won't prevent them from having a great time."

Deer said that can't happen without a lot of help.

Following tradition, a Rotary Club member stays with each student for the whole event. Depending on their needs, the student is accompanied by a teacher or parent. And each is greeted individually by Santa Claus.

In her 11th year staging the party — and operating the club's $65,000 year-round program — Deer said the party also would be impossible without the help of Wittenberg, which donates the facilities; without Sodexho, which donates the children's meals; and without the help of teachers who "really spend time thinking of the perfect gift for each child."

"In the end," Deer said, "it's just a morning of pure fun for the kids."

That sounds a lot like Christmas.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.