Early Bird

A three-year contract for teachers in the Downingtown Area School District has been formally accepted by the district school board. The agreement was "an early bird," board president Frank J. Marcocce Jr. said during the board's meeting Wednesday. This is the first time in 10 years that teachers and the school board have reached a tentative agreement before Labor Day. The agreement was reached Aug. 25 and has been ratified by the teachers. The contract increases the district's instructional costs by 10 percent, from $10 million to $11 million dollars, in the first year.

The sun was barely up yesterday before the coffee was on at City Hall and the meeting called to order. Saturday meetings at early-bird hours are nothing new for this crew. Or for City Council President John F. Street, inveterate morning person and, as they were grumbling yesterday at City Hall, tireless taskmaster. Street chairs the Philadelphia Charter Commission and is the man who issued the call to gather. It was answered by 11 of the 14 other members of the panel who not only came but stayed awake and stayed - for four hours.

If someone told you that you could buy something great at 45 percent off - for a limited time only! - you'd probably run right out to catch the sale. Then consider the early-bird special, where - for a limited time only! - you can save 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent or even more on a restaurant meal. Same ambience. Same service. In most cases, the same food. You just have to beat the rush and be seated at certain times. And watch what you say. The fancier places bristle at the term early-bird special, spitting it out as if you're saying "early-pigeon special" or something.

They came from all over the area - about 3,000 people looking for jobs. They had different backgrounds and different approaches to the search: Some wore suits, and some wore jeans. Two people even came on crutches. But they all came with hope yesterday to the fifth annual jobs fair sponsored by the Job Developers Network Committee. John R. Fisher, armed with a stack of resumes, was among the more than 100 early birds who descended on the fair at the YMCA gym at Broad and Master Streets.

Family The French and P ickering Creeks Conservation Trust invites all to its Saturday feast of local foods - plus music, square-dancing, games, and a raffle at the Homegrown Harvest Supper and Hoedown at Marshlands in Elverson. Tables will be laden with local soups, vegetables, smoked fish, lamb and pork sausages, roast pig, beef, homemade cobblers, pies and cakes, and cheeses. Supper and hoedown are from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Early-bird activities begin at 3:30 p.m. - canoeing, pond fishing, swimming, marsh and farmhouse tours.

If you leave the Viennese Cafe hungry, you have only yourself to blame. The Cafe, a fixture in Cherry Hill for 14 years, has built its reputation on legendary portion sizes and good dollar value, a reputation that proved well founded during a recent visit. We - my friend, her 76-year-old mother and I - ventured out one chilly spring day for a meal that was too late for lunch, but too early for dinner. Because the Viennese Cafe's voluminous menu offers something for every taste bud, and they serve continuously, from 10 a.m. to midnight, the restaurant was an obliging choice.

You've over-indulged, over-extended and over-charged all in the name of Christmas. And the holiday season's not over. But you can eat, drink and be merry and not only survive when times are tight, but flourish. It just takes a little dining savvy, creative planning and an adventurous spirit. Here's a list of some of Philly's best dinner deals - early-bird specials, dining discounts, two-for-one coupons - designed to ease the pain and lift your spirits. AL MAZ'S BAR AND RESTAURANT, (1200 Reed St., 462-2808)

Arrive early. A half-hour ahead of time will put you ahead of the pack. But avoid being an "early bird" - showing up a day ahead is just plain rude, or you're a dealer. Always offer a lower price and ask nicely. Remember that at the bottom of every sticker is an unwritten "OBO" - or best offer. Cruise good neighborhoods. The quality of goods is better if you're lucky to find an unadvertised sale. Take a substantial amount of change - ones, fives and quarters.

Situated on the Black Horse Pike in the hamlet of Cardiff, N.J., Tull's has been dispensing seafood to locals and travelers for eight years. But owner Harry Tull's experience goes much further back. "We've had other restaurants in Northfield, Brigantine, Margate and Vineland on and off over the past 21 years," he told me recently. Before that he was a commercial fisherman who trawled the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras. Now he limits his fishing to shad and weakfish in season.

An early bird catches the worm, but not if the rest of the flock gets there earlier. For many businesses, customers once labeled early birds are coming up short when searching for reservations for Shore home rentals, wedding halls and caterers that are not already booked. For movie-theater tickets and minivans, people are calling earlier than ever before, and that means the rest of the population must follow suit or go without. "If you don't pay before, you probably won't get a ticket around here," said a representative for the AMC Marple 10 Theaters in Springfield, Delaware County, where patrons have been greeted many a weekend with 10 sold-out movies.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migrating to North America weeks earlier than in decades past, and research indicates higher temperatures in their winter habitat may be the reason. Researchers say the early arrival could mean less food at nesting time for the tiny birds that feed on insect pests, help pollinate flowers, and are popular with birdwatchers. "Hummingbirds are charismatic, and they do things that fascinate us," said Ron Johnson, a scientist at Clemson University and one of the study's authors.

Thanksgiving shopping took a noticeable bite out of Black Friday's start to the holiday season, as the latest survey found retail sales in stores fell slightly from last year. Saturday's report from retail technology company ShopperTrak finds consumers spent $11.2 billion at stores across the United States. That is down 1.8 percent from last year's total. This year's Friday results appear to have been tempered by hundreds of thousands of shoppers hitting sales Thursday evening while still full of Thanksgiving dinner.

LOOKING BACK at the Eagles' 31-13 win over the Rams while wondering what Jay Paterno would be doing for a living right now if his father wasn't Penn State's head coach:   BY THE NUMBERS *  Because of the problems they had against the run, particularly early on, the Eagles stayed in their base defense much of the game. They used their nickel sub-package (two linebackers, five defensive backs) just five times in the first half and a total of 11 times in the first three quarters.

Family The French and P ickering Creeks Conservation Trust invites all to its Saturday feast of local foods - plus music, square-dancing, games, and a raffle at the Homegrown Harvest Supper and Hoedown at Marshlands in Elverson. Tables will be laden with local soups, vegetables, smoked fish, lamb and pork sausages, roast pig, beef, homemade cobblers, pies and cakes, and cheeses. Supper and hoedown are from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Early-bird activities begin at 3:30 p.m. - canoeing, pond fishing, swimming, marsh and farmhouse tours.

The Giants and Cowboys are doing it. So, too, are the Saints, Falcons, and Seahawks. Even the Redskins have done it. The Eagles, on the other hand, have not held informal practices during the NFL lockout, although plans are in the works. But is there anything to gain from players gathering for workouts without coaches, state-of-the-art facilities, and playbooks? "It's important," Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said. "But I feel like people are stressing too much about it. I think it's more important for, let's say, a team bringing in a rookie franchise quarterback as opposed to a guy we've been working with for two years now. Obviously, we have the advantage in that.

TOUGHNESS was the thing Eagles coach Andy Reid talked about, in justifying taking Jaiquawn Jarrett in the second round instead of the third or fourth, where the safety from Temple had been projected. Asked about that toughness this weekend, during his visit to NovaCare, Jarrett was quick to explain it. "She always made sure to discipline us," said Jarrett, who is one of three children of Audrey Young, a Rikers Island corrections officer. "If it wasn't physically it was mentally.

The Eagles are in the playoffs, but they won't be for long if they play the way they did yesterday in the bone-chilling cold at Lincoln Financial Field. Thanks to the Dallas Cowboys' win Saturday night in New Orleans, all the Eagles needed to do was win and they were in the postseason for the eighth time in coach Andy Reid's 11 seasons as head coach. That mission was accomplished with a 27-13 victory over the San Francisco 49ers that allowed the Eagles, 10-4, to remain a game ahead of the second-place Cowboys in the NFC East.

Kevin Curtis seemed sincere, but he couldn't help but smile as he talked about how he pleaded with the Eagles to let him report to training camp with the rookies four days ahead of his other veteran teammates. "I asked them if I could come," Curtis said after the Eagles opened training camp with a morning practice in the searing heat at Lehigh University yesterday. "They didn't want me here, so I begged them, and they let me come. This was an opportunity to see where the groin is at rather than waiting until Day One when we're going live.

Maybe it was the wink. Maybe it was the other obvious reasons. But when Tom Savage orally committed to Rutgers on April 19, the Cardinal O'Hara High quarterback was falling in line with other top-ranked recruits who were deciding their football futures without having played a down as a senior. In the world of college recruiting, all the rage is committing early. And if you're a major Division I talent - such as Savage - there is seemingly almost no reason to wait - unless you believe the college and high school coaches who are sounding the alarm as the process quickens and threatens to overrun what they call common sense.

As indicators go, NFL preseason results are typically about as reliable as a Poor Richard's Almanac weather forecast. That's why there should be almost no cause for alarm following the Eagles' unattractive 29-3 exhibition loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night. Almost is an important word here, because there were some disconcerting things, which will be mentioned later. First, though, listen to cornerback Sheldon Brown's evaluation of the Eagles' lopsided loss. "Every preseason that I've been involved in, it seems like it has been this way, and the season has never been determined by how we did in the preseason," Brown said.