Bagels

It's something, ain't it, this American Dream thing? You start with a fellow named Isidore Paterakis leaving Chios, Greece, a long time ago, and you wind up Sunday in East Baltimore with his son John Paterakis, surrounded by maybe 3,000 of his closest friends and his family, his employees and customers, politicians and police officials, all gathered to say happy 50th anniversary to his H & S Bakery.Precisely 50 years ago, the father and son Paterakis, plus daughter Liberty and son-in-law Harry Tsakalos, started baking bread here in a brick, flat-hearth oven at 201 South Fagley Street.

For new parents, 'Bagels and Babies'NEW PARENTS AND their babies are invited to a series of Sunday brunches, "Bagels and Babies," beginning this month at the Jewish Community Center's parenting center in Owings Mills. The discussion topic at the first brunch, Oct. 14, will be capturing kids in pictures; a child photographer will be the speak-l er. Subsequent brunch topics will be choosing a pet, picking children's books and increasing a child's listening ability through music. Brunch begins at 10:30 a.m.; the cost is $4 per family, and registration is necessary.

A friend and I walk briskly for five miles on Saturdays and then chat over a breakfast of bagels or pancakes at a nearby diner. Are we undoing any benefit of our exercise with the breakfast we eat? It depends on what health benefits you want from your five-miler. No matter what you eat, you are still getting valuable aerobic benefits from your walk. If weight loss is your goal, however, you should rethink your routine. Are bagels and pancakes the pot of gold at the end of your outing?

Scene DJs LoveGrove and Adam Auburn play host to a new dance event at Power Plant LiveM-Fs Mosaic lounge, which caters to an upscale crowd. page 14T P I C K O F T H E W E E K What: Concert in the Park Where: Mount Vernon Place When: Tonight from 5:30 to 8:30 Why: Because you can check out the sounds of pop-rock artist Ben Arnold and rockers the Damnwells in the next-to-last concert of the season. Admission: Free Information: www.godowntown baltimore.com Trips Spend a day checking out the World War II Memorial in Washington.

WOMAN walks into a bakery, where there's a sign announcing that the price of bagels will go up a nickel on Jan. 15. "War and an increase in the price of bagels on the same day," she says."

McCormick & Schmick is known most days for its seafood, but this time of year its menu more resembles that of an Irish pub. In celebration of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, the Inner Harbor restaurant brings in Irish steppers and adds corned beef and cabbage, shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, and mussels steamed in Guinness beer to the menu. "In our company, St. Patrick's Day has become like a national holiday," general manager Kevin Bonner said. Once celebrated most widely in Irish enclaves such as Boston, St. Patrick's Day is becoming more mainstream - and more commercial.

BECAUSE HE IS such a shy, retiring fellow, it took Greg Novik all of about eight seconds this week to cast off his guise as humble maker of bagels and thrust himself into the great political question of our time concerning one Martin O'Malley. "You said so many nice things about me," announced Novik, proprietor of Greg's Bagels, as he stood facing the mayor of Baltimore, a small squadron of reporters, assorted TV cameras and more than a hundred spectators, "that I'm going to have to vote for you no matter which way you run."

OK, this is the totally nice column. Just about everything in this column is nice, and I say that unabashedly. Be careful out there. These stories might make you feel good about the world, )) about people, about life. This column even contains a feel-good story about that lawyer who's always advertising on TV -- Baltimore's most famous former assistant state's attorney, that Stephen L. Miles guy. Here we go.Special deliveryA couple of weeks ago, Jordan Meilach was standing on Falls Road near the Kelly Avenue Bridge, waiting for a cab. He started to feel faint.

Old Glory waved from front porches, stood tall in flower pots and glowed from computer screens yesterday, as if the calendar had suddenly flipped to July 4. A star-spangled symbol of mourning, patriotism and even defiance, the flag came out of mothballs and flew off store shelves. Wal-Mart sold 88,000 flags nationwide Tuesday, the day terrorists struck. The retailer sold 6,400 on the same date last year, a company spokesman said. "I think everybody should be hanging their flags today, until we get this conflict settled," said Derek Deneke, 29, vice president of The Big Iguana Co. Ltd., a chain of funky home decor and clothing stores that normally couldn't be confused with a VFW hall.

STUDENTS IN Cathy Mundy's English class started out to study a mystery novel and ended up being detectives themselves, uncovering local history about the Underground Railroad.The young researchers presented their findings last week at Clarksville Middle School.The students are members of Mundy's seventh-grade Gifted and Talented English class. As part of a unit on mystery/suspense novels, they read "The House of Dies Drear" by Virginia Hamilton, an African-American author.The house in the story was owned by an abolitionist who was hanged for helping slaves escape.