Acton

The beauty was in the details. Peony petals floated in a birdbath. Bright orange daisies were paired with lilac lobelia in a container. Dark orange koi swam in a black pond as visitors crossed a narrow footbridge. Waterfront gardens sloped down to a backdrop of sailboats catching a breeze on Spa Creek. Several hundred visitors endured the hot, sticky weather Sunday to walk through 14 private gardens in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Annapolis. This was the sixth year of the Secret Garden tour, which benefits the historic Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis.

Sometimes location, location, location is overrated. Case in point: Pazza Luna in Locust Point, which seems out of step with its surroundings but has managed to thrive in the five years of its existence. It's a quirky little restaurant with good but not cheap, mostly Italian food. A lot of similar restaurants -- at least on the surface -- have disappeared without a trace. Why has this one succeeded? Surely owner Kim Acton is the reason. She's the former owner of the popular Tutti Gusti in Ocean City and was manager of the old Pimlico Hotel and later Lenny's Chop House, so she had a customer base before she ever opened Pazza Luna's doors.

A century ago, Murray Hill was prized as a breezy hilltop retreat from hot, crowded downtown Annapolis and the smelly waters of the Spa Creek basin. Today, it is the place to live if you want to be able to walk to City Dock and all the shopping, dining and waterfront delights of the state's capital. Bounded by West Street on the north and Spa Creek on the south, Shaw Street on the east and Amos Garrett Boulevard on the west, Murray Hill has a rich history. In 1650s, a carpenter named Richard Acton purchased 100 acres on what is now Spa Creek.

For 17 years, the Maryland Science Center's Summer Solstice celebration has been a delightful way for the center to raise money. Planners of the recent gala, which raised $165,000 for the education programs, decided to educate their guests by exposing them to the center's exhibits, experiments and planetarium and IMAX shows.Guests were greeted by maidens dancing barefoot to the beat of primitive drums and once inside they were given toy animals to depict their eating areas. I heard Channel 13's Denise Koch looked smashing in a white pantsuit and doing the emcee honors.

Washington. -- When I heard he was fighting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to refuse random drug tests required for sports activities at his school in Vernonia, Oregon, I figured James Acton was probably some kind of smarty-pants kid who enjoyed making school officials jump through legal hoops.But, as he cowered near tears before a teeming herd of reporters outside the majestic marble halls of the mighty Supreme Court, he looked like precisely what he was, a timid, bespectacled 15-year-old who had been put up to this by his parents.

LANDOVER -- The Washington Capitals, who have been operating with three extra forwards since calling up Pat Peake and Steve Konowalchuk last week, lost two of them yesterday.The trade of veteran forward Pat Elynuik was planned. The loss of veteran center Keith Acton on the waiver wire wasn't.Capitals general manager David Poile sent Elynuik to Tampa Bay for a 1995 fifth-round draft choice.Earlier in the day, he was forced to put one of his other players on waivers, due to the signing of veteran defenseman Brian Curran.

LONDON -- Sir Harold Acton, a scholar, poet and historian who was legendary as the consummate esthete of his generation, died on Sunday at his family's Renaissance villa on a hillside overlooking Florence, Italy. He was 89.He had been in frail health for some time, friends said.A son of Sir Arthur Acton, who came from a family of Shropshire baronets, and of Hortense Mitchell, a wealthy American, Sir Harold wrote more than a score of books, ranging from novels to memoirs, biographies and essays on Chinese poetry.

The box score from No. 2 Loyola's 12-9 victory over No. 10 Denver Saturday night shows that nine different Greyhounds scored goals, including three from junior attackman Mike Sawyer and two from senior attackman Eric Lusby. There are no numbers next to Reid Acton's name, but what's more important is the lack of numbers associated with Pioneers senior attackman Mark Matthews. The junior defenseman snapped Matthews' streak of 39 consecutive games with a goal - which had been the second longest active streak in Division I. Matthews misfired on 10 shots and finished with just one assist and three turnovers, and Loyola coach Charley Toomey took great pains to single out Acton.

Towson senior goalkeeper Andrew Wascavage (St. Mary's Ryken) received Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week honors Monday after a 19-save performance in a 7-6 win over then-No. 19 Hofstra on Saturday. It is the first conference honor for Wascavage, who shared the award with Penn State goalie Austin Kaut . Wascavage is ranked in the top five in the nation this week in saves per game (fourth, 13.82) and save percentage (fifth, .608). Other Division I men's honor: Loyola senior defenseman Reid Acton was named Eastern College Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Greyhounds hold Ohio State to just four goals and 23 shots in a 9-4 win Saturday in Columbus.

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to get you more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Loyola junior defenseman Reid Acton, who ended Denver senior attackman Mark Matthews' streak of 39 straight games with a goal in the Greyhounds' 12-9 victory Saturday night. How would you assess your play against Matthews? Mark's a really good player. I actually grew up playing with Mark and covering him. [Both Acton and Matthews are Ontario natives.]