Inqlings: A match made in the stars - and stripes

Ben Betsy, and now I hear those crazy kids are fixin' to take the plunge over the July 4 holiday.

The town's best-known Ben Franklin (

Ralph Archbold

) and Betsy Ross interpreter

Linda Wilde

have been linked since last September, and in an interview with The Inquirer in March mentioned their engagement.

Archbold, long-divorced, and Wilde, a widow, said they met Sept. 1 when Wilde talked Archbold into appearing at a wedding - a gig he usually shuns because he likes the bride to star. Archbold later needed a Betsy Ross, and Wilde stitched her own costume to cinch the job. They didn't return my phone call.

You

can

pay to get access to

Mayor Nutter

. The nonprofit Arc of Philadelphia/Philadelphia Developmental Disabilities Corp. (ARC/PDDC) has put a meet-and-greet with Nutter up for bid as part of the agency's third annual CharityBuzz Auction, now online via

» READ MORE: http://go.philly

. com/arcauction. Bidding yesterday was at $100; organizers placed its value at $500. Also up for bid are an autographed

Mickey Mantle

baseball (at $250 yesterday), a ride on the Zamboni at the Wachovia Center ($100), two tickets to a

Jimmy Buffett

concert at Madison Square Garden ($250), and a visit for two people, including dinner from Bookbinder's, in the studio with WIP's

Howard Eskin

(no bids yesterday).

Old City's Omni Hotel and some wedding vendors are auctioning a wedding package (135 people, couture gown, tuxes, Mexican honeymoon, photog, hair, makeup, etc.) valued at more than $50,000. The benefit for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is up at

» READ MORE: www.aweddingforalex.com

, and yesterday awaited an opening bid of $20,000.

Pennsylvania's film-tax credits are bringing in more than just movies. Center City's Shooters Post & Transfer, which for years has done film and video production work, yesterday opened a $2.5 million digital cinema suite that will allow feature-film directors and directors of photography to finish their movies here, as well. Visual-effects supervisor

Mark Forker

, an L.A. import who runs the division, called DIVE, says he has 10 films in the works. He's adding special effects to the shot-in-Philly

Demi Moore

-

Parker Posey

film

Happy Tears

, and he's also working on

The Road

,

John Hillcoat's

shot-in-western- Pennsylvania adaptation of the

Cormac McCarthy

novel about a postapocalyptic society; stars include

Charlize Theron

and

Viggo Mortensen

. DIVE is adding snow and making Mount St. Helens "appear" outside a cave.

Jennifer Hudson

, the

American Idol

alum appearing in the

Sex and the City

movie, will sing sometime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. today on

Shamara's

show on WUSL (98.9).

Author

Jackie Collins

, touring the country in a Harrah's bus, will make her first stop at Harrah's Chester on June 13, followed by Caesars Atlantic City the next day.

Sightings:

Parker Posey

and friends closing Morimoto Saturday after tackling the omakase menu. . . .

Vincent Pastore

and

Deborah Gibson

at the Pool at Harrah's Saturday, separately. . . .

Patti LaBelle

, surprised on her 64th birthday Saturday at Showboat's House of Blues by

Natalie Cole

,

Teddy Pendergrass

and

Sarah Dash

(originally of

Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles

).

Last week's ouster of

Chris Booker

and company from Q102 did not go unnoticed by actor

Mark Wahlberg

, a show regular when he was in town shooting

The Lovely Bones

and

The Happening

. I hear that Wahlberg, in the middle of a tour of the Vatican, called fired producer

Blaire Galaton

to offer condolences. Galaton told Wahlberg: "Tell the Pope 'What's up' and pray for me."