Nov. 28--DREHERSVILLE -- By 1 p.m. Friday, the room overflowed with about 100 people who filled every seat, stood leaning against the walls and sat on the floor and along the steps on both sides of the staircase.

It was a typical Black Friday crowd, aside from the location: the scene was not a department store or mall anchor, but the lower gallery at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

"We appreciate you coming out to the mountain on a day when the stores are absolutely jammed and getting some fresh air," Lee Schisler Jr., president of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, said to the crowd.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, the sanctuary offered a variety of programs at its open house as an alternative to the crowded Black Friday shopping scene.

The annual event, held the Friday after Thanksgiving, always draws a healthy crowd, Schisler said. The programs are chosen to give the public a chance to "see some things in nature close up" and "create an awareness and understanding."

One of these events is a live owl program, which Schisler hosted at 1 p.m. Live demonstrations can spark interest in learning "whether you have a reasonable knowledge base or not much at all," Schisler said.

"When this comes out in front of you, it's going to get your attention ..." Schisler said. "Some of these owls are the best teachers out there."

An enthusiastic crowd offered a chorus of "awws" for the tiny screech-owl, then uttered gasps of pure awe at the sight of a two-foot-tall great horned owl with a near four-foot wingspan, which they greeted with shuffling and murmurs.

Schisler had little trouble prodding the group into practicing their owl calls, including the horned owl's "traditional five-note hoot" and the distinctive cry of the barred owl, which was only presented in stuffed form, that sounds like "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?"

"If you can get them in on that in the front end of the program, they'll stay with you the rest," Schisler said.

Other activities included walks through a native plant garden, as well as a few arts and crafts activities with native materials.

"That's trying to give people an idea of what some of the native plant species are in the area and their role, and some non-native plant species that are causing some difficulties," Schisler said.

Local author Kathy Miller, New Ringgold, held a reading and signing of her book "Chippy Chipmunk Parties in the Garden," that contains photographs Miller took of a chipmunk in her garden over many months.

Another author, Jim Wright, also gave a presentation and signing for "Hawk Mountain: The World's First Raptor Sanctuary," as well as a reading for his children's book "Icky the Hungry Heron."

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