DECATUR - Surrounded by children and their families in tents, sitting on sleeping bags and eating hot dogs in Parsons School's gym, Jacques Nuzzo told the story of the first time he saw a bear.

"I was in-;a rickety shower house in the mountains," said Nuzzo, program director for the Illinois Raptor Center. "I was naked, and my buddy yelled that there was a bear inside the shower house with us. He knew a neat trick to get rid of a bear. We started barking like dogs. Imagine me and my friend, soapy and wet, barking like dogs."

The reason for the "camping in" event at Parsons was Family Reading Night, instituted by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and celebrated in several Decatur schools Thursday. Parent liaison Rebecca Mattingly called it the perfect camping experience - no bugs, no rain, no worries.

Tents were supplied by Parsons staff and families could bring their own sleeping bags, but many sat on-;rubber gym mats. Smokey the Bear visited to make sure the "campfires" made of tissue paper didn't get out of hand, the costume provided by Illinois Conservation Foundation at no charge and worn by school nurse Mary Roney who, it turns out, is a big Smokey fan.

"We thought it would be something different to do," Mattingly said. She thought her granddaughter, who often is suspicious of new things, would be afraid of the tent, but not this time. "She dove in the tent," Mattingly said. "I went to see where she was, and she was already in the tent."

The Bagley family attended with children Trevor, 14, now a student at Stephen Decatur Middle School, Devin and Keagan, 11 and 7, who attend Parsons, and 4-year-old Seth and 2-year-old Niah. Mom Bonnie said the kids love evening events at school.

"We've always come to reading night," Bagley said. "They get excited when we come to evening things here, because they get to see their friends and actually spend time with them."

Nuzzo brought four of the Raptor Center's birds along to show off, including the center's star, Solo the red-tailed hawk. Red-tailed hawks are the most common raptor in Illinois, and can usually-;be spotted sitting on a high point and scanning the ground for prey. He also brought a turkey vulture, which spread its wings as it sat on the arm of Jane Seitz, executive director of the center.

Vultures are not technically raptors, Nuzzo said. They belong to the same family as storks and herons, and they have no vocal cords and no defense except one. When they're startled, they vomit.

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