Appreciation

Think of the Twins and the average baseball fan will think of Kirby Puckett and, maybe, Kent Hrbek. Think of the Twins and real fans probably remember that Jack Morris was signed as a free agent before this season and that second baseman Chuck Knoblauch will probably be voted the American League's Rookie of the Year. But think about the Twins beating the Atlanta Braves, 5-2, Saturday night in the opening game of the 88th World Series and realize that the turning point was a three-run homer hit by a guy who bats in the pitcher's spot in the order.

IT WAS ABOUT 12 years ago that I first attended a Somerton Civic Association meeting and met Mary Jane Hazell, the association president who passed away recently. What impressed me was her steadfast nature and determination for her community of Somerton, Northeast Philadelphia and the entire city. The civic association was real democracy in action. This is how it must have been in colonial times when neighbors got together to address the problems of the times. I remember meetings where, in her inimitable fashion, she told developers or politicians to go pound sand.

"To many fans, the 1950 Phillies-Yankees World Series is nothing more than a few paragraphs in a baseball record book. To Elwood P. Smith, it is a vivid memory," the Philadelphia Daily News wrote in a 1979 appreciation of its award-winning staff photographer. "He was part of it, working along the first-base line in Connie Mack Stadium. "And Smitty, as his coworkers call him, has been at the scene of major sports events ever since. " On Tuesday, Jan. 25, Mr. Smith, 91, of Northeast Philadelphia, a Marine Corps aerial photographer during World War II, who became a legend for his expertise and longevity in Philadelphia journalism, died of colon cancer at Nazareth Hospital.

Carol Firth gets a lick of appreciation from the freshly shorn and bathed Celeste. The dog was a visitor last week to Firth's Grooming by Carol business, located in the back of the Ardmore Animal Hospital.

Like Reservoir Dogs with a Cockney bark - but without Quentin Tarantino's filmmaking chops - the British entry 44 Inch Chest offers a tough-talking meditation on jealousy and marital betrayal. Its cast is stellar - Stephen Dillane, John Hurt, Ian McShane, Tom Wilkinson, and, at the center of it all, a broke-down bad man, Ray Winstone. But its script, from David Scinto and Louis Mellis, the cowriters of Sexy Beast , is nothing more than a heavy rotation of expletives and redundant riffing.

I'D LIKE to express my appreciation and thanks to the Daily News for your article (Nov. 8) celebrating my 100th birthday. Your outline of my work has touched the tender nerves of my living and being. Indeed, it is only through the constitutional gift of freedom of the press that human works are recorded and remembered. For we Americans like this country as it is. We would rather ride in an oxcart or a covered wagon in a democracy than in a Rolls-Royce driven by a dictator.

PHILADELPHIA has a unique although somewhat awkward - opportunity in this time of renewed interest and appreciation for our nation and its founding principles. Right here is where our founders first gave voice all those principles that we are now fighting for. Here's where the genius of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were born. So how does the city exploit the deeper appreciation Americans now have for this legacy, without seeming exploitative in the bargain?

The Barrier Awareness Group of Delaware County has awarded certificates of appreciation and recognition to people and organizations that have helped promote public understanding of problems faced by handicapped people. The certificates were presented at an awards ceremony June 22 at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park. A certificate of appreciation was presented to Malcom Flint, refinery manager at Sun Refining & Marketing Co. in Marcus Hook, for providing Barrier Awareness with a place to hold a seminar.

Listening to pianist Marcus Roberts' newest release is like sitting through a boring music appreciation class, where the instructor must explain every nuance of a song before you can understand why the song is so important. But on "Blues for the New Millennium," even that's not enough. You're still left scratching your head. The question: What's the point? Roberts, a Wynton Marsalis protege, has taken the 12-bar happy blues and tried to put a '90s spin on them. Let's call it "retro neo blues.

In Friday's issue, parts of this story were garbled or left out because of a production error. The entire story is reprinted here. Outside her Mount Ephraim elementary school, little Kristen Coffman saw scores of classmates and teachers holding tiny flags - and two fire trucks with a much larger banner suspended between tall ladders. A motorcade with wailing sirens and loud rumbling motorcycles passed beneath it and pulled up a few feet away. Thursday was a big day for Mary Bray Elementary - and for Kristen, who thought she had been chosen to give a bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers to Mount Ephraim Mayor Joe Wolk as part of a military appreciation day. Instead, the freckled 8-year-old was stunned to see her mother, Army Lt. Candice Bujak, briefly home from Afghanistan after nearly a year.

Even in the most popular workplaces, not everyone likes his or her job. Ask employees to finish the phrase, "I love my job because . . . " and some can't help expressing frustration. "No comments now," said one respondent to our survey at a large employer. The worker continued, "Previously, it was one place I used to love to work and it used to provide me challenging work, but hard work has not paid off for me in the last 5 years with this organization. " Respect, praise, listening, and rewards that are more than tokens are among the things many workers value most from their bosses.

NASHVILLE - There's a lot more to Micheal Eric than basketball. He's an excellent student and speaks several languages. The Nigerian is a computer expert. And he takes pride in his cooking, especially his Cajun chicken and shrimp with pasta. But it's on the court where the 6-foot-11 center has experienced both success and heartache at Temple. Eric's troubles included ineligibility, isolation, and a string of injuries. Happily for Temple, the graduate student says all those problems are long gone.

DR. RICHARD N. Smith cultivated things. Not just the plants in his well-stocked garden (where he could recite all of their Latin names), but people, especially children, who thrived under his skill and compassion as a child psychiatrist for 50 years. "He was always thinking of people," said his son Steve Smith. "He was loved and respected by everyone who knew him. " Richard worked in numerous psychiatric venues throughout the region over the years, working primarily with children and their families, many of them seriously troubled.

KOBE BRYANT'S was the second name called during the Lakers' starting lineups last night at the Wells Fargo Center, and when the crowd was informed that Bryant attended Lower Merion High School, the only fan base for whom that information is unequivocally meaningful greeted Bryant with a mixture of applause and jeers. Perhaps the cheers came from Lakers fans sprinkled throughout the sold-out arena, and the boos were likely fans who still haven't forgiven Bryant for his cold-blooded proclamation during the 2001 NBA Finals.

Assuming for a moment that he could have shed the trademark blue-eyed skepticism that made him so dogged a reporter, Chuck Newman might actually have enjoyed being compared to a Broad Street bully. Mr. Newman, who died suddenly Wednesday of a heart attack at 79, was after all the sportswriting equivalent of the Stanley Cup-winning Flyers teams he covered in the mid-1970s - aggressive, feisty, confrontational, strong-willed and tough. Others could craft the flowery prose.

NEWARK, N.J. - When Claude Giroux , the Flyers' diminutive center, was smacked into the boards by Boston's mammoth Zdeno Chara during Thursday's second period, James van Riemsdyk didn't hesitate. He went after Chara. "That," Flyers center Danny Briere said, "took a lot of guts. " Chara is 6-foot-9, 260 pounds. Van Riemsdyk is 6-3, 200. "I think those type of circumstances are really good for building a team," coach Peter Laviolette said before Saturday night's game against the New Jersey Devils.

DEAR ABBY : I wonder how many women feel just like me. I spent the best years of my life married to an abuser and cheater, raising three children who were my world. Now, as I approach my twilight years, I have a sick husband who needs my care and three children who are self-sufficient, successful and self-serving. I feel used by all of them. My husband appears to be headed toward dementia, and I can't find the courage to walk away. I don't know what you can do for me because I know I'm only one of millions of women: We can't afford a divorce; we want to remain a part of our children's lives, yet we yearn to give our love to those who can return it and appreciate the loving, competent women we are. What are your thoughts?

The other morning, Nancy Ross Hugo was in her Virginia backyard, contemplating a white oak she recently planted and thinking how it could outlive her by 500 years. At the moment, it was busy with birds and insects. "It's like a city out there, so much is going on," she said. Hugo has spent a lot of time noticing trees lately. She and photographer Robert Llewellyn have collaborated on a splendid book, Seeing Trees , recently published by Timber Press. They immersed themselves in the lives of 10 common trees - thus, the subtitle, Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees.

It was a cold evening just before New Year's and I was looking forward to having dinner with my friend - and favorite author - Leslie Esdaile Banks. But I was bummed, in the middle of a breakup and on the verge of tears. When I arrived, a glass of cabernet was waiting. Leslie handed me a tissue. "How did you know?" I sobbed. "Girl, Jen called me whispering on the phone like she was Black Ops," Banks said. "I told her, 'Don't worry, I got this.' " We spent the next few hours giggling, sipping wine, and tasting tapas.