The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 24

i C2 TUESDAY, SEPTERMBER 25, 2001 TEMPO THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER abies: Help parents through tough day MM 1 ll 7 ill Jul (Z Ul Babies born Sept. 11 at local hospitals Good Samaritan Hospital, Clifton: 21 Bethesda North Hospital, Montgomery: 11 Christ Hospital, Mount Auburn: 12 St Elizabeth Medical Center South, Edgewood: 10 Mercy Hospital Anderson, Anderson Township, 5 Mercy Hospital Fairfield, Fairfield: 4 University Hospital, 1 Mercy Franciscan Hospital, Mount Airy: 0 St Luke Hospital West, Florence: 6 St Luke Hospital East Fort Thomas: 4 Fort Hamilton Hospital: 3 Total: 77 just had a kid, and there they were, attacking New York." Collin's were equally distracted. "On the one hand, they've got a grandson being born. And on the other, the country is ing about what had happened, and I'm thinking, Hey! I'm pushing a baby out She and her husband said they "tried not to watch too much of the (news) coverage and to stay focused i 'U-, New Americans adorned in red, UlllC UllU IIUC Patriotism came immediately Sept 11 to Tristaters old and young. Even the caps on newborns featured stars and stripes in red, white and blue at Mercy Hospital Fairfield, in Fairfield.

Maternity staffers called into service fabric markers, rubber star stamps and dye to lend spirit where they could. In many cases they walked a fine line between celebration and mourning. "It should be a happy time," said Stephanie Houston of Hamilton, who came up with the idea and made runs to neighborhood stores "That day, a lot of people were very sad and couldn't be happy. It was just another way to make things look a little brighter. "The parents were very, very pleased," she said.

"I thought it was a good way to show our newest little Americans were proud of their country, too." Mike Pulfer that history was being made. For the world as well as for her family. "The doctors and nurses were watching TV," she remembered. One of them, concerned about stress levels and how they might affect very pregnant mothers, turned the television off in Mrs. Provencio's room.

"But I turned it back on," she said, admitting that, like most of us, she couldn't help but watch. "It's really a tragedy," she said, "but I couldn't help but be happy for me and my husband." And her other two daughters, ages 10 and 7. "It took me seven years to get pregnant," she said. Doctors had given up. Then, at Christmas, she and her husband learned they would have another baby.

And in one of the longest, darkest hours of modern history, Paula Marie Provencio said hello to the world while others said goodbye. "Miracles do happen," her mother said. Enquirer reporter John Johnston contributed to this report. From Page CI that God kind of gave us a miracle to be happy for on the sanie day as the attack," she said. "Something at the other end of the spectrum." Her miracle turned out to be 8-pound, 2-ounce Jackson Jordahl, born at 9:26 a.m.

while most of the nation gaped at death and destruction in New York and Washington and rural Pennsylvania. His beautiful dark eyes, so far, have been spared the awful images of the past two weeks. "It's good to have something happy to remember," Mrs. Jordahl says. I can't be sad every Sept 11." The Jordahls were aware of trouble in New York from almost the beginning that morning.

"It was 9 o'clock when I started to go into my pushing stage," the new mom remembered. "One of the nurses said there was some kind of accident. But we didn't know the magnitude until after the baby was born. "Everybody was curious," Mrs. Jordahl said.

"The doctor was ask on the happy part of the day for us." Williamsburg's Correy Greene and Lori Wood said they had "really mixed emotions" after their first child, Collin, was born premature at 8:12 a.m., 36 minutes before the first World Trade Center collision. "We (saw) it start happening when we got out into the recovery room," Mr. Greene said that's when everything started happening. It was kind of weird. We had under attack by terrorists," Greene said.

"They said it was the weirdest feeling they ever had happy and sad all at the same time." For the future, "We saved newspapers and stuff like that to show him (Collin) what was going on the day he was born," Mr. Greene said. Mrs. Provencio, who went into the delivery room about 8:30 a.m. with her husband, Pablo, was aware from the outset of the onslaught Jaimss R.

Carpenter (front) Amber Burgess and Chuck Leonard star in Fellowship. Theater review 'Fellowship' production rings false Tolkien's magic fails to transfer By Joseph McDonough Enquirer contributor Playwright Blake Bowden and the Ovation Theatre Company have undertaken a gargantuan challenge in adapting J.R.R Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. How do you retain enough of the enormously rich detail of the book to satisfy tie Hobbit lovers, while creating an exciting work of theater that is enjoyable for those who have ii it- CI 2 f. a i nf I III -1 jr. 4 I 1, pit- a i it 'Mar- I IP.) i -ilite i i mnni The Associated PressBETH KEISER Exhausted New York firefighters take a break from their rescue efforts at the site of the World Trade Center on Sept.

12. The Associated PressCHARLES KRUPA A heavy cloud of smoke hung over lower Manhattan on Sept. 12, the day after the two towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. Nightmare: Attack turned reality upside down never ventured to Middle-earth? Ovation's production at the Aronoff Center is a hard-working, often-imaginative attempt, but it only brings the book to the stage rather than bringing it to life. The plot of Fellowship (which is the first part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) boils down to good-guy hobbit Frodo Baggins' possession of a ring of enormous power that he must take on a journey and destroy before the bad guys get it Frodo meets all kinds of creatures along the way who have battles and adventures that often take the focus off him.

Unfortunately, Jaimss R. Carpenter plays Frodo as a dim-witted wimp of a hobbit He doesn't project any of the resourcefulness or inner strength that is needed to carry the show. The other 20 cast members under Mary Lenning's direction are inconsistent. Some hobbits have exaggerated wobbles and voices and others don't Actors are in near-constant motion as they sing songs (from the book, set to music by Joel Underwood) and portray numerous characters, trees, rivers and whatnot in inventive ways on the two-level set But few of the actors allow us to feel a part of what is going on as they race to get through Fellowship. Faring the best are Mr.

Bowden as sidekick Sam Gamgee and Amber Burgess as the wizard Gandalf (she is still referred to as 'he' even though Ms. Lenning seems to have made the choice to portray the character as a woman.) We can suspend our disbelief that these hobbits aren't 3 feet tall and don't have hairy feet But for the production to be successful, it needs to have more than great ambition. We must be emotionally involved and care what happens is some terrific puppet work by Carus Waggoner, Rick Couch and Aretta Baumgartner. The horses are particularly fun to watch, as is a giant fire-eyed Balrog that descends from above. The Fellowship of the Ring, through Saturday, Ovation Theatre Company, Jarson-Kaplan Theater, Aronoff Center, 241-7469.

and every time I hear my wife's voice, I lose it" I said, "I'm so glad you at least get to talk to her." He said, "Yes, but I want to see her. I want to go home, and I'm not sure when I will get there. We have everyone here. We are working nonstop. It is hard." I wish I could do more.

These guys are doing work that no one should be doing. It is not normal to lift rubble and search for breathing bodies, only to find so many dead bodies. To find friends and co-workers. I have a constant scratch in my throat. Is it all this stuff that is floating in the air? I turned the corner to go to my grocery store to ask what time he would reopen.

I wanted to get food to make something for the 'firefighters. The man said, "The trucks can't get to me, and I can't restock my shelves. I'm not sure when they are going to let them in again." Let me recap here. I can't get north to get groceries. The trucks can't get south to give us groceries what are we supposed to do? Next: The apartment door is sealed shut.

I asked if I crossed over north could I get back south. The officer said, "The subway stops here. You will have to get off the subway and prove residency for me to let you back in." He added, "I wouldn't go unless you have to." I'm scared, not of New York, but of the damage and where it will stop. I am still waiting, like I'm not sure they are finished harming us. I stop by the fire department and asked one of the firefighters whether I could bring them some food.

(I'm still a Midwesterner at heart We do things like that.) I said, "I heard that people were bringing them food." He said, "We have enough tonight, but we would be very appreciative if you brought some tomorrow." I knew as the words came out of my mouth, I was making a mistake. I wanted to know how much food to bring, so I would bring enough for everyone. I said, "How many guys do you have here?" The firemen's eyes started to fill with tears. I said, "I was just asking so I knew how much to bring." He said, "Whatever you bring is appreciated and will be eaten." I said, "How is everyone holding up?" He said, "We lost seven guys in one company and we lost an entire and believed that our office was far from a target We learned that the subways, bridges and tunnels had been closed indefinitely. We were fearful that car bombs could be planted anywhere in the city and being on the streets was probably not safe.

Fighter planes flew over the city waiting for further hijacked planes, ready to shoot them down. We were afraid the next hit would be the Empire State Building. Finally, the CEO told us to go home. Imagine our shock to walk out onto Fifth Avenue, a major street in New York City, at the beginning of rush hour, on a weekday, and not see one car. The fire department around the corner from my apartment had parked cars three deep into the street to create a fortress around it The cloud of smoke ahead was huge and looming over the spot where the World Trade Center once stood.

I think people were in a state of shock and just numb I know I was. Wednesday, Sept 12 When I went to bed around 1 a.m., I heard fighter planes flying overhead. This morning I climbed the roof. I wanted to walk out to discover the World Trade Center looming over the city and find that it had all been a bad dream. They were still gone.

Around 6 p.m., I went downstairs. My building superintendent and her sister stood on the front stoop. They had ordered Chinese food for dinner, and the man told them he could bring it to the barricades but couldn't pass them. They would have to meet him at the From Page CI had just heard that the Pentagon had been hit I felt like I was in the movie Independence Day, and it was bizarre, terrifying, pure chaos. I walked through Union Square Park, and on the far side I saw a crowd of people staring up in the same general direction.

By then, my cell phone was working, and I was talking to my mom in Florida. I told her I wondered whether something had been hit in Union Square. Then I looked up and saw everyone looking at the World Trade Center towers. With that, my mom said, "Oh my gosh, it is collapsing," and I looked up and watched it come down and disappear in a bundle of smoke. I started crying hysterically.

I just had no idea what to expect My mom asked whether I wanted to hop on a plane and come to Florida. I said yes. With that, she looked at the news and said they have closed all the airports in the country. I was even more scared. This was real.

I reached Fifth Avenue (where I work) and all I heard were sirens, zooming police cars, people walking and running and screaming and crying and stunned. All the fire departments I passed on the way to work had fire trucks out on the streets ready to go. In the lobby, a woman entered the building, sobbing uncontrollably. I went up and put my arms around her as she muttered, "How can someone kill so many innocent people?" In my office, the few workers who had arrived congregated in the conference room, and we sat staring at the news in disbelief. The CEO didn't want us to leave, because he feared further attacks Two policemen emerged from the subway and said, "Everyone out!" They roped off the entrances to the subway in front of my apartment and said that there was a gas leak and a building was expected to fall.

On the news, they announced that another building is getting ready to collapse and three others are unstable. Where am Am I still in New York City? I decided to take a walk. My street which is usually filled with cars, people, restaurants and music was silent The only vehicles that passed me were police cars with sirens. People passed me on the street with masks around their necks. I saw a woman put mail in the mailbox.

We hadn't had mail in two days. I walked over to West Broadway. It offered one of the best views of the World Trade Center. There was nothing but a cloud of smoke and bright lights, which I'm sure were spotlights for workers. I just don't understand how two structures of that size can be gone.

It seems like a movie. It doesn't seem real. I can't believe that when I heard about the riots in Cincinnati and my New York friends said, "They put a curfew on a city? That is a joke. They couldn't put a curfew on New York." Well, they didn't create an impenetrable fortress around Cincinnati as far as I know, but they sure have created one around lower Manhattan. They don't want anyone leaving or coming in.

I looked up the road and saw the barricade at the corner where eight cops stood guarding it I walked up to a small group of police officers and asked if I could go back to work on Friday. They said, "Why?" ANAND INDIA RESTAURANT 10890 Reading Road (513) 554-4040 other company of 20 guys," and he started to cry. I put my hand on his arm and said, "I'm so sorry." He pointed to the fire trucks. "These aren't even our trucks. These are Brooklyn's trucks.

Our trucks are gone. They are gone with the 20 guys." He tried to swallow his tears. He said, "We are sending guys down in shifts to work in the rubble and they come back and eat and sleep and the next crew goes. "I haven't been home in two days FREE Food all day on Sept 27th starting with our lunch Buffet for a donation to the New York City and Washington DC relief effort. Please join us at 11:30 am, that day in our parking lot for a Prayer for Peace and for the victims of this disaster.

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