Summer

When it comes to packing a picnic basket, sandwiches are almost always the stars. And why not? They are easy to eat, require no utensils, pack well, and are versatile enough to keep everyone happy. And for the rest of the meal, we tend to lean toward yet more finger food - chips, cookies, hopefully some fruit. In other words, lots of carbs. But vegetables? Not so much. Sure, carrot sticks, celery sticks, strips of bell pepper, and stalks of broccoli and cauliflower are every bit as handy as a sandwich.

Things slow down a bit in the summer, but that doesn't mean small-business owners should flip the sign on the door to "closed" and head to the beach until Labor Day. Taking a few days off is a great idea, but the more relaxed summer months are also a good time for company owners to step back and look for ways to improve their businesses. If you don't own a seasonal business such as an ice cream or surf shop, here are a few things that can help you set up for a profitable end to the year.

WHENEVER I HEAR about people seeing former "Double Dare" host and part-time Philly resident Marc Summers , they always comment on how generally engaged he is with them, rather than giving them the celeb kiss-off. "I'm just fascinated that people have such good memories of it," Summers, who also hosts Food Network's "Unwrapped," said of his former Nickelodeon hosting gig. "So I am actually interested to hear what they have to say. " Some of those memories are more formative than most.

They came to Philadelphia from Oakland, Calif.; Lawrence, Kan.; Durham, N.C.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Washington; and elsewhere. Why? "The Roots," Ryan Loecker, 19, of Lawrence, said with a grin. "We came all the way from Kansas. " He was among the few thousand people who gathered Saturday at the Festival Pier at Penn's Landing to see the Philadelphia hip-hop/soul band perform as part of the sixth annual Roots Picnic, beginning the summer music season in the city. The festival was held a day after the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program dedicated a mural to the band on the north side of South Street west of Broad Street.

B.C. Tozer is the author of "The Four C's of Successful Teaching: Consistency, Contingency, Compassion, and Courage" Parents, welcome to the summer months. This is the time of year you learn how important your child's school is to your family. You may be the type of parent who understands and appreciates the job teachers do for you and your children, but now is the time to become a true partner in your child's education. We teachers have worked very hard over the last nine to 10 months teaching and preparing your children for the next grade and overall success in life.

Hundreds of people streamed into the Festival Pier at Penn's Landing Saturday afternoon for the sixth annual Roots Picnic, kicking off the summer music season in the city. The main act, the Roots - the iconic Philadelphia hip-hop/soul band - won't come on the main stage until 8:30 tonight, so many in the crowd are simply trying to stay cool in the 90-degree heat. As the music picked up, Ehren Vance, 23, started dancing in a circle with his sister, Evan, and cousin, Vance. "I've enjoyed the show immensely so far," said Ehren Vance, who grew up in Mt. Airy and now lives in Washington, D.C. "It's all love out here.

The Roots Picnic is this weekend, which means the summer music season in the Philadelphia region is about to get underway in earnest. The selections highlighted here only begin to touch on the range of activity between now and Labor Day, outdoors and in, on a grand and intimate scale. In the oversize category, there's pop country's Kenny Chesney, coming to Lincoln Financial Field on June 8 with a compelling undercard that includes Eric Church and Kacey Musgraves. The Mann Center for the Performing Arts has the National and Dirty Projectors on June 7, Belle & Sebastian and Yo La Tengo on the Skyline stage on July 10, and New Order on July 26. Delbert McClinton plays the Keswick Theatre in Glenside on June 15 and Buddy Guy is there on July 30. Last summer's addition to the local scene, Morgan's Pier, is back with a winning schedule of indie bands and DJs, with We Were Promised Jetpacks on June 12, Dmitri From Paris on June 15, James Murphy on July 6, and Parquet Courts on July 24. Union Transfer hosts Tricky on June 11, Quadron on June 16, Savages on July 14, and El-P and Killer Mike as coheadliners on Aug. 12.   Roots Picnic You know this year's Roots Picnic lineup is money because there are two acts on the undercard with dollar signs in their names.

IOWA CITY, Iowa - When it came time to draw up a budget, one of Iowa's regional Girl Scout councils reviewed its programs and made a proposal that would have been unthinkable a generation ago: selling its last four summer camps. Troop leader Joni Kinsey was stunned. For decades, the camps had been cherished places where thousands of young girls spent summer breaks hiking, huddling around campfires and building friendships. Kinsey, whose daughter learns to train horses at camp, immediately started a petition to fight the idea.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - When a hundred or so suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying business owners plunge into the 57-degree ocean at noon Friday to signify the "unlocking" of the resort's beaches, they'll be hoping the world is watching. Jersey Shore towns are seeking the attention more this holiday weekend than ever in the history of the decades-old event, repeated up and down the coast annually to signify the unofficial start of the lucrative summer tourist season. The message is loud and clear: The beaches are fine.

NATION Tornado's toll: $2B The monster tornado that left thousands homeless may have caused more than $2 billion in damage. A2 Chechen killed by FBI A man linked to one of the Boston bombing suspects is shot in Orlando. A3