If you've been in the Atlantic City area long enough, and some of us have, you no doubt can remember dozens of attempts to "save" Atlantic Avenue - several of them well before casino gambling came to town.

Way back in the '40s, '50s and early 1960s, the midtown section of Atlantic Avenue was the commercial hub of the city. Fancy clothing shops for men and women, large department stores, furniture stores - you name it. Atlantic Avenue was where you went to buy what you needed.

But by the 1970s, Atlantic Avenue had become perhaps the most visible symbol of the city's decline. And casino gambling, for all the good it has done in revitalizing other parts of the city, hasn't done much for Atlantic Avenue. Deteriorating storefronts, litter, a vagrancy problem - these are what hit you first on today's Atlantic Avenue.

Now, however, there is reason for a glimmer of optimism. Now, there's something going on that's more promising than all the fancy plans and proposals put together by various agencies over the years: Atlantic Avenue merchants are volunteering their time to help themselves. More