Snow. Christmas. Finals. Caffeine abuse. It's that wonderful time of the year, when festive feelings and familiar traditions abound (maybe). The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra feels no less celebratory, but the group decided to put a unique spin on a timeless custom.

This year, the HRO leadership has opted to use a politically-correct, alternative moniker for that age-old tradition known as "Secret Santa." The festivities will now be called 'Super Sexy Secret Secular Santa,' according to HRO percussionist Elizabeth C. Bloom '12.

Since a ten-dollar limit was imposed on all gifts, students were encouraged to be creative in their searches for the perfect (cheap) gift, said Bloom, who gave her lucky target a photoshopped picture. One student was given, well, a box of tissues—perhaps the fact that his Super Sexy Secret Secular Santa is competing against him for a leadership position sheds some light on that particular transaction.

To guarantee anonymity of the givers, the gifts were placed on the chairs of their recipients before rehearsal one evening, Bloom added.

In addition, around this time of the season every year, the spirit chair of the orchestra sends out an e-mail written many years ago by a student whose Secret Santa had cruelly neglected to buy him a gift, according to Bloom.

The e-mail, Bloom said, serves to encourage students to participate in the general mirth and merriment of the holidays.

Here's to a super sexy, not-so-secret, maybe secular holiday season!