Plates

Volunteers loaded nearly a thousand paper plates with donated food yesterday at the first picnic for the homeless sponsored by the Philadelphia Rescue Mission-Family Rescue Service. Ronald Leiter, mission director, said, "We were trying to do something to bring attention to the plight of the homeless in Philadelphia. " Said one woman at the event: "This was a good idea. "

I have a complete collection (five) of a limited edition of Worcester pewter plates, still in their original boxes and in mint condition. They were issued in connection with the U.S. Bicentennial and with these issue dates and titles: 1972 Boston Tea Party, 1973 Ride of Paul Revere, 1974 Incident at Concord Bridge, 1975 Signing of the Declaration of Independence, 1976 Washington Crossing the Delaware. Can you tell me what they might be worth and where I might sell them? Based on recent transactions on the trading floor of the Bradford Exchange, Box 45204, Chicago, Ill. 60648, the largest trader in limited-edition plates, it appears some of your Bicentennial plates were good investments and others were not. For instance, the 1972 Boston Tea Party, which cost $45 when issued, traded last month at $125.

Porcelain is a common element in still-life painting, but German artist Suscha Korte's paintings of porcelain plates are a different animal. They aren't still lifes; they're treated more like mandalas whose symbolic significance is mysterious and alluring. At Temple Gallery, Korte is showing six large oil paintings from a series she calls "Danced Shoes. " Each canvas consists of three plates, seen full-face, in a horizontal row across the canvas. Each is decorated distinctively; some are floral, others are banded.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan - Traffic police in a southern Kazakhstan city have complained of a rising tide of motorists replacing their license plates with signs reading "I Love Sex. " Online news channel Mir reported yesterday that one of them, a 19-year old motorist in Kyzyl-Orda, was fined $1,000 for pinning the provocative plate to his SUV. The station also showed police footage of another car bearing a more chaste plate honoring a woman: "I Love...

Starting with a sale this afternoon featuring Perillo plates and another tomorrow featuring monkey plates, the next four days will offer five sales to the west, to the south and to the north. The 50 signed Perillo plates, all from a single consigner, will be offered by Annette and Harold M. Smith Jr. at a sale of antiques and collectibles at 4 p.m. today at the Downingtown Marketplace on Business Route 30 next to the Tabas Hotel. Perillo plates are contemporary limited-edition plates done by a New York artist who specializes in Native American scenes.

I have six attractive, shiny plates - three depicting a colonial man in wig and breeches who has been thrown from a white horse, three with a colonial man seated at a table, arms outstretched, with another man standing and facing him and leaning on a cane. All six plates have on the back, "Made at Ye Buffalo Pottery 1908, Deldare Ware underglaze, 1908. " Your rare and desirable Buffalo Pottery Deldare plates are worth $125 each, according to Seymour Altman. Altman and his wife, Violet, wrote the definitive book on the subject, Buffalo Pottery, published by Crown in 1969 and now out of print (the Altmans have a few books left, which they sell for $50)

Robert de Saint Phalle, 13, is hoping that visitors to Marshallton on Saturday make a stop at the Goddard Early Learning Center on Sugars Bridge Road. There, the young artist will have his handmade Christmas cards and china plates, embossed with his original designs, in a craft sale as part of Saturday's festivities in the village. He has been designing Christmas cards for his friends since the fifth grade, but his drawing days go back to when he has 3 and growing up in Marshallton with his parents, Jean and Fal. "He started by drawing trucks - and they were very detailed for a child his age," said Jean, an artist who graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art. "He once drew a rabbit on the back of a matches cover," added his father.

As comestibles go, oysters are among the more varied. They range in shape from the flat belons of France to the rock-like bluepoints of Long Island. Their flavors are equally diverse. For the last few years at their home in Moorestown, Jeanne and David Beck have hosted a holiday party for their colleagues at the Coriell Institute and others at which they set out oysters from beds in at least three different regions and challenge their guests to identify the subtle distinctions in flavor of each.

We were in search of pie for dessert for a big family dinner in Stone Harbor last week. And as it was still pre-Fourth of July, many of the shops were open only on weekends. Someone directed us to a bakery called the Painted Pie, and we found it, with the door ajar, but clearly not open for business. A baker emerged from the back, his bicycle in the middle of the shop. Could he recommend any place we could buy a pie for dessert? "None will be as good as mine," was his reply. "Well could you bake one by 6 o'clock?"

The Casey administration, which is considering ending the state's ubiquitous "You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania" slogan, announced yesterday that the phrase would no longer be printed on car license plates. Instead, the state will return to plates containing only the words Pennsylvania and Keystone State, as well as the numbers and letters comprising the vehicle registration. Except for the position of the two words and the color combination (from blue lettering on a gold background to gold on blue)

THE MAYOR and City Council agree that the school district needs more money. After that, they part ways - once again. Mayor Nutter has proposed three solutions to the district's request for $60 million: increase delinquent tax collections to raise $28 million; up the across-the-bar drink tax from 10 percent to 15 percent to raise about $22 million; impose a $2-a-pack local tax on cigarettes sold in Philadelphia to raise $45 million this year....

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Power is the thing that attracted the Phillies to Art Charles. "Charles is a guy who has big pop," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the day he acquired the 6-foot-6 first baseman from the Toronto Blue Jays for reliever Michael Schwimer. "Whether he's going to be a major-league hitter at some point, we don't know, but we know he has a lot of power. " After watching Charles play for a month at low-A Lakewood, the Phillies are happy with their return so far because he has provided the advertised power and even more.

DEAR ABBY: My 14-year-old son, "Nils," recently joined a sport he really enjoys. His stepdad and I are at every practice, helping the coaches and coaching my son along. Nils recently commented to me that he would like it if his father could come and see him practice. I took it upon myself, as I usually do, to call my ex, "John," and suggest he make an appearance, because it would make our son happy. My husband, who has been a wonderful stepdad to Nils for 13 years now, told me I should leave it alone.

NOT OFTEN does a masked man take to the mound. We're not talking about a bank robber, a hazmat worker or even the Lone Ranger. We're talking about a catcher. That position was almost exclusively the one and only played last season by Eduardo "Cheese" Sanchez for Frankford High's baseball team. But now the 5-10, 220-pound senior is a two-spot guy and one is 60 feet, 6 inches from the other. Monday, in a career first, Sanchez spent his time at both as the visiting Pioneers downed George Washington, 7-3, in a Public A clash.

MICHAEL YOUNG has been in a Phillies uniform for only a few months. But he's played in more major league games than anyone else in the home clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park. And he's the oldest player on the roster, too. So when the question of the Phillies' offense arose on Tuesday afternoon - how its inconsistency has hidden underneath the struggles of the team top's two starters and middle relievers - Young was an obvious voice to seek out for an answer. The even-keeled veteran spoke with a calming voice at his corner locker stall.

As the unendurable monotony of the offseason ends, celebrate baseball's return with mental calisthenics. Everyone knows it was former Atlanta manager Dave Bristol who said, "Only trouble I ever had with chewing tobacco was that the orthodontist said my daughter was going to have to give it up because of her braces. " But do you know: 1. What pitcher in a 25-3 season had more complete games than home runs allowed? 2. What four players hit home runs in four decades? 3. What three players hit home runs as teenagers and after their 40th birthdays?

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - No one is hitting for more power in the Phillies camp than Kevin Frandsen, a backup infielder. Backup infielders are not supposed to have slugging percentages like .808. Frandsen homered off David Price on Friday. He is hitting .385 (10 for 26), with six of those hits going for extra bases. "He's hitting, man," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He did some real good hitting. That's big-time hitting. Big-league hitting off a big-league pitcher. " Frandsen was rewarded with an $850,000 contract for his strong showing in 2012.

* The word seder is Hebrew for "order. " The order of things for the Passover meal gets tweaked a bit as Ross M. Levy, Ken Ulansey's Whirled Music, storyteller Jos Duncan and magician Ran'd Shine, plus members of BalletX, headline The Philadelphia Seder March 17 at the Bellevue Hotel (Broad & Walnut streets) Master of ceremonies is Rabbi Eli Freedman, of Rodeph Shalom synagogue. Tix are $80 adults, $60 full-time students. 215-545-4400 or gershmany.org . * There's still room at the bountiful table - make that tableau - that is The Brewer's Plate, 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday at the National Constitution Center (525 Arch St.)

Adapted from a recent online discussion. Question: My husband eats lunch with coworkers every day. I joined them out recently and one of his single, female coworkers began eating off his plate. When I noticed, she snatched back her hand. My husband is pretty familiar with his coworkers, but I'm sure he would be livid that a single, male coworker was eating off my plate, especially if it appeared to be a habit. I'm not worried even remotely that he's cheating on me (and wouldn't read this as evidence he was)