Gambell resident Merle Kaningok, an employee of the Gambell Public School, hauls a load of toys and Christmas goodies away from an Alaska Air National Guard HC-130 transport aircraft. The Alaska Air and Army National Guard were in Gambell, on remote St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, with a group of civilian volunteers as part of Operation Santa Claus 2009. Now in its 53rd year, Operation Santa Claus is a program of the Alaska National Guard to bring toys, food, supplies and Christmas cheer to isolated villages around the state. Alaska Air National Guard photo by 1st. Lt. John Callahan.