"Chronicle," the venerable show mirroring New England that is produced at WCVB-TV, Channel 5, is rebroadcasting last summer's 30-minute love letter to Gloucester on Monday night at 7:30.

The program, conceived and produced over three weeks by reporter Ted Reinstein, explored the city's identity crisis as it imagined a life after commercial fishing's command of the harbor was broken by fishery regulators.

Many citizens chimed in thoughtfully to give a sense of the anguish and hope that always seems matched together.

But the real star of the show — if you ask us — is the city itself, which without trying (pretentious, Gloucester is not) entranced and seduced in scenes filmed last June, shortly before full bloom, the camera in the gifted hands of Bob Oliver.

"He's the best, no doubt about it," said Reinstein.

In Oliver's impressions, the water gleams and the breezes seemed more than extras on the sets.

Asked for an update from the Times, "Chronicle" was told the city is about to begin discussing its future in forums organized by the new mayor, Carolyn Kirk, with the hope of coming to a common vision that can be presented to the levels of government that control the city's harbor.

When the show is over, you'll be searching for your flip-flops.

Flowers from Lanesville Jim

The scent of cut flowers was powerful and preceded Jim into the city clerk's office in City Hall Wednesday afternoon. He brought in so many bunches, wrapped and arranged by professional hands, that he could hardly hold them all.

He put them on the service desk where citizens pay for licenses, obtain records and discuss the retail business that citizens need to do with the city.

But he was not there to do business. He was there to distribute floral thanks.

Jim — he insisted on withholding his surname — beamed with a wide smile centered above a GQish outfit while explaining that he attended Mayor Carolyn Kirk's State of the City report to the folks of Lanesville the previous night at the community center and was moved by her presentation to decide to come downtown to deliver flowers as thanks to the folks who row the ship of state day in, day out.

"I just want to say thank you," said Jim.

Then, "night before Christmas like," emulating the laying-his-finger-aside-of-his-nose business, Jim whisked himself out of the clerk's presence on the way to the Department of Public Works.

"Gotta give them some love, too," he said as he left.

Illegal dogs, lots of them

The deadline for registering dogs is the end of the month. And unless an awful lot of dog owners intend to cut it close, the city will need to accept a sad fact, that for every owner who honors the public safety and health commandment to register their dogs, there is one who isn't going to.

Judy Peterson, assistant clerk for archives and history, who is in charge of dog registration and the database, reports that the city has records that 3,844 dogs have had rabies inoculations.

But so far, only the owners of 2,107 have paid the $22.50 to register their pets with the city, an act that produces tags that provide vital information, including that the dog is vaccinated.

Without the tags, the dog's inoculation against rabies would be unknown and should the dog bite another animal or human, the dog could be mistakenly adjudged a danger of carrying the rabies virus.

All forms of angst could ensue.

To limit it, the payment is little enough to ask, Peterson said.

Blooming art

The Cape Ann Garden Club will be among the dozens of groups taking part in the annual Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Floral arranger Sue Kuendig and assistant arranger Judy Carter will represent the Cape Ann club. They will create a flower design that interprets a work of art. In all, there will be 63 designs to be done by New England garden clubs as part of this springtime tradition.

The four-day festival is intended to showcase flower arranging as an art form. The event takes place Saturday, April 26, through Tuesday, April 29. A Family Day kicks off the event next Saturday with special activities for children, followed by a gala opening in the evening. Speakers from Norway, Japan, and New York City will present lectures, demonstrations and master classes on the following days. Free, guided tours take place continuously from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. throughout the museum.

On Monday night, there will be a free open house for the public. Throughout the festival, perennial favorites will pop up, including afternoon tea, The Garden Gallery, The Flower Cart, Art In Bloom at Home and the "Give the Arts a Chance" drawing, with prizes ranging from jewelry to box seats for the Red Sox.

Art in Bloom is part of the museum admission. Reservations are required for the opening celebration, floral demonstrations and master classes. Tickets may be obtained on the Web site at www.mfa.org or by calling 617-369-3306.

Guest speakers include Michael George, a New York designer; TK Concepts, the award-winning floral design duo of Tor Gundersen from Norway and Kiko Zimmerman from Chicago; and master teacher Yoka Hosono, from the Sogetsu School of Tokyo.

The museum also is hosting two new Spanish exhibitions. The exhibition, "El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III," which requires a special entry ticket, runs from April 20 through July 27. The work of Spanish master Antonio Lopez Garcia runs through July 27.

Dump it at the DPW

If you've got stuff you've been dying to get rid of, next Saturday, April 26, is your day. That's when the Department of Public Works on Poplar Street will hold its recycling drop-off day. The 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. event is open to Gloucester residents and small businesses (five employees or fewer).

Five vendors will be parked in various locations at the public works yard, ready to take stuff you don't want off your hands and recycle it. The best part is there's no charge (with a few exceptions noted here).

r Planet Aid will take clothing, textiles, shoes and accessories.

r Got Books will collect books, videos, CDs, audiobooks, records, DVDs, comic books and textbooks.

r Universal Shredding will collect personal papers for shredding. (First box — about the size of a recycling container — is free. Additional boxes cost $5. Cash only.)

r North Shore Scrap Metal will take any item that is at least 80 percent metal — aluminum, cast iron, steel, washers, dryers, dishwashers, stoves, hot water tanks, radiators, bed frames, file cabinets, silverware, etc. No chain-link fence or propane tanks.

r CRT Recycling will collect and recycle air conditioners, microwaves, computer monitors, CPU boxes, computer parts and accessories, laptop computers and notebooks, fax and copy machines, scanners, printers, phones, video game consoles, VCRs, DVD players, projectors, servers, electronic medical equipment, electronic digital and video cameras and equipment and electronic audio/visual equipment — all for free. (There's a $5 charge for plastic-covered televisions and $10 for wooden ones, and a $5 charge for refrigerators and freezers.)

Residents can still place metal items and white goods at the curb with a $2 or $25 sticker (depending on the item).

For details, call Kathy Middleton at 978-281-9785.

Honored veteran

The flag at the Veterans' Center will fly this week in honor of World War II veteran John White Veator. Born April 25, 1915, he entered the U.S. Army on Feb. 13, 1942. A captain, the coast artillery unit commander served with Battery H 240th Coast Artillery, and attended the Coast Artillery School (Officer Candidate Division). He served in the American Theater.

Veator was awarded the American Service Medal.

He was discharged Nov. 12, 1946, and died Jan. 13, 2003.

The flag was requested to fly in his honor by his sister, Jane C. Veator.

Anyone wishing to fly a flag in honor of a deceased veteran can call the Office of Veterans' Services at 978-281-9740.