Sisters Elementary gives a hoot

Last Friday was the "Day of the Owl" at Sisters Elementary School (SES). An assembly was held before school sessions began so the children could be a part of the presentation of a beautiful specimen of a mounted great horned owl that will be on permanent display in the school.

The project started almost a year ago, when Eric Huffman was taking his son Ricky to school and they spied the owl dead on the highway. Not wanting to see it splattered all over the road, Eric stopped his car and gently moved the owl to the shoulder of the highway. As he got back into his car "what if..." began to stir around in his head.

"I have an idea..." he said when he called to tell me about the owl. "I'd like to see if I can have the owl stuffed and put on display in the school, and I'll pay for it."

Eric's son, Ricky, jumped on the bandwagon immediately and volunteered to put his egg-money into the project. Ricky has a good-sized flock of hens on his parents' "PPJ Ranch," and if you talk to anyone who has purchased eggs from Ricky, they'll tell you his hens put out some might tasty eggs.

Eric and Ricky's desire to save this beautiful specimen hit a home run with me, and I went out to the highway and picked it up. (As a part of my federal bird banding permit, I have what is known as "holding permit," which allows me to have dead birds in my possession for transfer to an institution, or whatever destination U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFW) sees fit for the bird.)

Eric could not legally have the owl in his possession, as all North American, Mexican and Canadian birds are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918.

Eric made arrangements with Tim McLaglan, a local taxidermist, to have the owl mounted with its wings open as though it had just dropped on an unsuspecting pocket gopher. And that was the beginning of a long line of people who donated a lot of time, effort and money into the owl you can see today at Sisters Elementary School.

Most mounted animals gather a lot of dust. USFW biologist Angela Sitz (who has a child at SES) and her husband, Olin, got in on the "what if..." track and came up with a solution for the dust. Angela contacted the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation (OWHF) asked if they would pay for an acrylic cube to place the owl in when McLaglan finished it.

OWHF champions projects that benefit fish, wildlife, and habitat for access, education and enjoyment of all, thought the idea was a great move for wildlife education, and donated the funds for the container - but there wasn't anything to place it on. That's where Angela's husband stepped in and built a beautiful wood base.

Friday morning, SES students all had the opportunity to hear about owls from Sitz, during a question-and-answer talk, and then the children had a close look at the owl as they filed past it and went off to class.

Like so many other projects that happen in the Sisters schools, "what if..." takes on reality with the gracious help of so many people who step up to volunteer. Whether it be a beautiful mounted great horned owl, making the container to put it on, or helping to serve meals during lunch time, the spirit of family makes our days brighter and it's easier for SES staff and students to smile.

If you want to see what a spectacular job Tim McLaglan did, the owl is on display overlooking the lunch room where all the staff and children gather for meals and assemblies.