Summer

(Jay Connor for the Boston Globe) Summer entertaining fans on a 2010 summer night at the Bank of America Pavilion. By Roy Greene, Globe Staff Before Donna Summer became Queen of Disco, the Boston native was nurtured by the music program at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester. "When I was at the Jerry, I sang in everything they had and was a permanent member of the glee club. If I couldn't have sung, I wouldn't have gone to school," she told the Globe's Ernie Santosuosso in an interview in 1977, just as the...

With the passing of Donna Summer last week, local singer-songwriter Amy Correia felt particularly affected. "As a Catholic girl growing up in Lakeville in the 1970s, I was always amazed and in awe of her powerful voice, her queenly presence, and subversive sexuality," says Correia, whose album "You Go Your Way" won an Independent Music Award last year and who will perform at Club Passim in Cambridge on May 30. "She made me cry, listening to...

Globe Staff File Photo/Mark Wilson Olives has been unofficially feeding people for a few days now, getting back in gear and using guests as guinea pigs to try out dishes new and old. (The food was free, but they paid for their own drinks.) Thursday, the reopening is official. "So many people have come up and said, 'We're so happy to have you back,'" says chef Todd English. But don't expect English and crew to be serving the kind of Big Food pictured above, the way Olives served customers circa 1996.

Gas prices in Massachusetts have dropped more than 20 cents in the past month and are expected to keep falling, raising hoteliers' and restaurateurs' hopes for a successful kickoff to summer on what is forecast nationally to be the most heavily traveled Memorial Day weekend since 2008. Local drivers are paying an average of $3.65 a gallon, down from $3.89 a gallon in mid-April and $3.88 a gallon at this time last year, according to AAA Southern New England. And they have noticed the difference.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Projects Abroad, a New York-based nonprofit that recruits thousands of young volunteers worldwide to volunteer in neighboring countries, says increasing numbers of high schoolers are choosing to volunteer abroad this summer. Officials at the agency said they expect almost 1,000 students to take part this summer in the group's "High School Specials," which are structured programs for high school students. "Service work is becoming a standard part of high school curriculum and many students are interested in performing this service...

With his carefully tended hair, tight trousers and perfect harmonies, Robin Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era. As part of the Bee Gees — short for the Brothers Gibb — they created dance floor classics like "Stayin Alive," ''Jive Talkin'," and "Night Fever" that can still get crowds onto a dance floor. The catchy songs, with their falsetto vocals and relentless beat, are familiar pop culture mainstays. There are more than 6,000 cover versions of the Bee Gees hits, and they are still heard...

Rhode Island is opening three popular state beaches for weekend use. The state's Department of Environmental Management announced Wednesday that Scarborough North, Roger Wheeler and Misquamicut state beaches will open Saturday. The beaches will be open on Saturdays and Sundays only until Memorial Day, when all state beaches will open for daily use. Beaches at Lincoln Woods State Park and Goddard Memorial State Park will also open Saturday for daily use.

C. Wonder will be bringing their selection of bright, preppy goods for your home and your closet with a pop-up location at 16 Federal St. in Nantucket this summer. The colorfully cheerful brand was founded by J.Christopher Burch (who co-founded his ex-wife's namesake brand, Tory Burch ) in 2011 and boasts brick-and-mortar locations in New York and New Jersey. The shop pops up on June 8 and will host a grand opening extravaganza through the weekend featuring a complimentary candy bar, a gift-card-giving prize wheel, and ice cream social (Sat.

“(500) Days of Summer’’ is a gimmick flick down to its title: Summer is a girl, not a season, and 500 days is the amount of time the hero spends falling in and out of love with her. Making his first feature after a successful run of pop videos (Regina Spektor, Daniel Powter, Fergie, etc.), Mark Webb dices the scenes Iron Chef-style, tosses them in the air, and lets them rain achronologically down: Day 34 (Ain’t Love Grand?) is followed by Day 436 (Head in Oven) is followed by Day 257 (We Have to Talk)

Some summers are so memorable they have their own name. I am old enough to remember the Summer of Love. I was in New York for the Summer of Sam, as in the serial killer Son of Sam, which was also the Summer of the Blackout. Good fun if you weren't in the hospital. How did this get to be the Summer of Stupid? Already in June, there were indications that 2011 would be the summer that the possums scurried up the drainpipes, which is yahoo talk for a lot of strange things happening.

Television isn't taking the summer off anymore, and networks fervently hope viewers won't either. To make the remote control as key to the season as sunblock and barbecue, cable and broadcasting are pumping out a variety of shows and specials, both scripted and reality. And NBC's "America's Got Talent" and Howard Stern are not the standard-bearers: Welcome back to TV, Aaron ("The West Wing") Sorkin! Here are highlights of what's on tap as the temperature rises: "Duets," ABC, debuted May 24. Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Robin Thicke and Jennifer Nettles serve as mentors...

The House will vote this summer on continuing wide-ranging tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Friday as the GOP sharpened its plans for confronting Democrats on one of the election's top issues. In a memo to fellow Republican lawmakers, Cantor said the House would vote on extending those tax cuts before leaving Washington for its August recess. Without congressional action, tax rates on wages, dividends, capital gains and other earnings will rise and most Americans will face higher taxes.

Donna Summer 's hit "I Feel Love" is one of the songs being preserved for posterity. The 1977 hit by the Boston-bred disco star, who died last week of cancer, is among 25 inductees announced Wednesday by the Library of Congress. (AP)

Family and some of her closest friends helped celebrate the life of Donna Summer at the singer's funeral. A private memorial service was held Wednesday for Summer at Christ Presbyterian in Nashville, Tenn., where she had been a resident since 1995. Summer, deemed the "Queen of Disco" for hits like "I Feel Love," "Love to Love You Baby" and "Last Dance," died May 17 of lung cancer at 63 in Naples, Fla. Producer and close friend David Foster performed "The Prayer" with Natalie Grant.

All photos by Ryan Mooney By Ryan Mooney, Globe Correspondent It all started two years ago with a routine trip to the CVS on Essex Street. Sam Szwartz, 7 years old at the time, and his dad, Stan, residents of Federal Street, saw something they had never noticed before: a basketball hoop in the lot behind the pharmacy that they frequent. It caught Sam's eye first, and upon further investigation, as youngsters are prone to, he quickly realized that it was much more than just a blacktop court.

I'm just going to put it out there: I stole the idea for this week's Five Most list. It's not even borrowing. It's just flat-out theft. My good friend Matt Singer over at the Criticwire blog at Indiewire.com came up with a fun question for his weekly critic survey: With Memorial Day weekend coming, what is the perfect summer movie? So many answers popped into my head, I thought, "Huh. This is kinda like a list. " The possibilities are endless: They could be blockbusters, movies that take place during the summer, movies that provoke fond childhood memories of the...

Have a wonderful Memorial Day, everyone. I'm taking the week off for some travel & will see you all back here next Monday.  In the meantime, open thread -- what are your summer plans or goals?

ONSET -- Some of the 20 men and boys have come to temple in traditional dark suits and ties. Others bow to the July steam outside, wearing seersucker or open-necked shirts or going sans jacket. This town does snuggle with Buzzards Bay, a place where in the summer as many people worship the sun as worship the Almighty. But the temple-goers all reverently bob forward during the benedictions of Friday afternoon prayer, just before sunset ushers in the Sabbath. Congregation Beth Israel is open only in summer (and briefly in fall for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana)

C. Wonder will be bringing their selection of bright, preppy goods for your home and your closet with a pop-up location at 16 Federal St. in Nantucket this summer. The colorfully cheerful brand was founded by J.Christopher Burch (who co-founded his ex-wife's namesake brand, Tory Burch ) in 2011 and boasts brick-and-mortar locations in New York and New Jersey. The shop pops up on June 8 and will host a grand opening extravaganza through the weekend featuring a complimentary candy bar, a gift-card-giving prize wheel, and ice cream social (Sat.

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com) Children play on the playground at the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School in Hyde Park. By Boston.com A Hyde Park charter school is offering a summer day camp that includes academic subjects, sports, martial arts, technology, and arts and crafts activities for students from grades K-1 to 6. The Boston Renaissance Charter Public School's Summer Enrichment Day Camp will also include daily trips around Hyde Park and Boston, including sites such as the New England Aquarium, the Boston...