English said it made her feel, "excited, happy, ... (like) a star."

"You feel special," Cadzow said.

"I felt it was, like, fun and great," Taylor said.

Over at the craft table, kids had the opportunity to decorate and cut out stars and make them into ornaments.

Tien Showers, 7, was intent on coloring in the star and not going outside the lines. When he finally pulled himself away from his task to answer questions, he explained what he was doing simply.

"Making a drawing," he said. "Making them into stars and stuff." He said he didn't know where he would hang his ornament.

Leoni Schlupp, 11, also decorated ornaments at the craft table. She was an old pro at the Holiday Happening, having been several times before because her dad is a museum association member. She said it's always fun to come to the event.

"They come up with new ideas a lot, so it's always really fun and there's always some kind of craft, which I think is really cool," Schlupp said.

She said she was hoping to get a photo with Santa as soon as the line died down. She'd seen the exhibits at the museum before, but appreciated the festive glow they had Thursday night.

"I think that it's really cool, and they're doing things really nicely," she said. "Like, all the dinosaurs have (Santa) hats on them, and I think that's really cool."

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com