Summer

Amy Rossano had never heard of the game GaGa before this summer. Now the mother of two spends most weekends watching her sons play - or even jumping in the pit herself. "It's so much fun and it's great exercise," said Rossano, mom of Harrison, 9, and Nolan, 7. "We practically live here. " "Here" is South Jersey GaGa in Cherry Hill, touted as New Jersey's first indoor GaGa facility. Co-owners Don Melnick and Steve Baselice started the business this summer and now have almost every weekend through May booked with birthday parties.

On most summer evenings, in the afterglow of a sinking Cape May sun, Vincent Panzano headed for the Cove, the beach at the end of the promenade. There, he took his post at a flagpole that stood for everything he believed in. He switched on a tape player, amped up the sound, and as Kate Smith's "God Bless America" soared, lowered the Stars and Stripes. On hand was an ever-changing passel of children whom he taught to properly fold the flag. The half-hour rite finished, he got into his Ford van with the "JUNE644" tags and drove home to Emerald Avenue, leaving behind an indelible Cape May tableau.

The New Jersey Education Association's decision to cancel this year's convention in Atlantic City should be the impetus for a discussion of the value of this annual tradition. With the Jersey Shore battered by Hurricane Sandy, and school districts scrambling to make up missed days, the cancellation of this year's event made sense for several reasons, including safety. The convention, which was scheduled for Thursday and Friday, typically attracts tens of thousands of public school teachers.

There will be no mistaking them for the Phillies, but one local group of baseball players is headed to the World Series, and these guys are happy just to step onto the field. They are not your typical team - all over 70, their lineup features a judge and a retired history professor. Not many of the players in the Tri-State 48+/55+ Senior Baseball League are over 70, but six who are will head to national 70+ tournaments: the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series in Arizona and the Roy Hobbs World Series in Florida.

A ferocious storm that thundered across South Jersey on June 30 devastated Parvin State Park in Salem County, killing two young campers when it brought down thousands of trees. On Friday, after months of cleanup, the entire 1,952-acre park quietly reopened to the public with little fanfare. Swimming and food-concession areas had reopened in late July. A grand-reopening celebration is being planned for spring, officials said. Visitors might notice more sunlight on the trails and camp sites, after the storm pruned the forest canopy.

Passing along some city high school football tidbits . . .  Basketball player Christian Summers is not exactly a football walk-on. He's a come-back-to-it, and his decision to resume poppin' pads required all kinds of thought. Two weeks ago Monday, the 6-3, 195-pound senior decided he'd try to help Bonner-Prendergast's squad as a wideout. After making a TD catch two Saturdays ago in the game with Roman that was suspended by lightning, he posted seven snags - some were sensational - for 117 yards in this past Saturday's 25-24 loss to Judge.

The summer runs were done not only for bonding, but also so Haddon Township's football team could improve on a difficult 2-8 season of 2011. So during the summer, the team ran together around the local communities, and one trek took them past Collingswood High. Every time the players passed the high school, it served as a reminder of what went wrong in 2011 and what could be rectified this year. Last season, Collingswood defeated the Hawks, 8-3, and so that was the only reminder the players had during those summer runs.

The summer runs were done not only for bonding, but also so Haddon Township's football team could improve on a difficult 2-8 season of 2011. So during the summer, the team ran together around the local communities, and one trek took the players past Collingswood High. Every time the players passed the high school, it served as a reminder of what went wrong in 2011 and what could be rectified this year. Last season, Collingswood defeated the Hawks, 8-3, and so that was the only reminder the players had during those summer runs.

WOODLAND PARK, N.J. - It was a good summer to be a tree in New Jersey. The most ravenous devourer of leaves - the gypsy moth - seems to have lost its appetite. Another pest - the Asian longhorned beetle - may have been wiped out. And as the season for tree diseases comes to a close, arborists are relieved to report that an outbreak of a tree fungus in Eastern Pennsylvania failed to make its way across the Delaware River. "I would say it was serendipity," Carl Schulze Jr., director of the state Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry, said.

Four end-of-summer sales in the suburbs will offer the chance to bid on items in an unusually wide variety of categories: from the familiar, such as fine art, banks, books, bronzes, and clocks, to the unique, including two oversize model boats. Almost all will be at affordable prices. Beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Wilson's Auction Gallery in Chester Heights will conduct a multi-estate auction featuring antique art glass, including Tiffany, amberina, and peachblow; sewing collectibles including thimbles and pin cushions; and antique perfume bottles and 60 lots of pipes, including meerschaum and corncob styles.