Next year is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.

Framingham has many significant connections and contributions to The Civil War, from weaving wool for uniforms and blankets, to sending the most men per capita of any town in Massachusetts.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic was first publically sung here at Plymouth Church.

William Lloyd Garrison created a national uproar by burning the Constitution during a anti-slavery rally at Harmony Grove on Farm Pond.

Dr. “Zab” Adams instituted the first triage “hospital” in the midst of a battlefield at Gettysburg.

Various Framingham organizations will be planning a year long series of events. The Framingham History Center hosted a meeting to start pulling the organizations together and to create committees. It was great to see such a large turnout and to hear about some of the plans already underway.

To get involved and find out about future meetings, contact Michelle McElroy at michelle@framinghamhistory.org.

When I was grocery shopping, I noticed some flyers under the windshield wipers of several cars in the parking log.

I find it annoying and an invasion of privacy. (I don’t like finding door hangers on my front door, either.)

I only know of one time that someone told me that they responded to a flyer stuck under their wiper. Do people respond? Is it worth it? When the exhibit Bodies was in town, there were several occasions when I found a postcard about it on my car when I parked in Shoppers World. And they littered the parking lot.

It’s also illegal, according to Framingham’s Sign By-Law. I wonder if a sign inspector has ever fined a business for putting literature on a car.

During the downpour today I was surprised to look out and see a bird, I think a finch, eagerly feeding at the feeder hanging on our crab apple tree. The bird clung to the feeder in the wind, looking around as it nibbled, but rarely looking toward our window.

I was only about 6 feet away and tried not to move.

The bird left and came back for more, then left.

Sometime later a squirrel, the first I’ve seen near the feeder, ran up the tree and started toward the feeder. Maybe he spied me, or felt the slender branch that the feeder is on wasn’t up to his weight, but he backed down, and scampered off.

We added a birdfeeder and suet to a crab apple tree near our window birdfeeder.

But since the robins, we’ve only seen a chickadee or two intermittantly. Then this weekend, we had a grouping of Tufted Titmouse. One in particular kept coming to the windowsill and singing. I don’t remember hearing that particular birdcall. Not that I have paid close attention before. I know crows and jays, and mourning doves, but that is about my repetoire.

There was once a very annoying bird that I could never see, that used to start chattering about 4:30 a.m. near my open window some summers ago. The Tufted Titmouse had a very pleasant chirp. I don’t know if I will remember it, but I like it.

After the Titmouse left, a Junco with a very yellow beak showed up and perched on my neighbor’s stockade fence for a while. He didn’t sing, that I could hear.

Please note that since my knowledge of birds doesn’t go much beyond robins, bluejays, crows, and pigeons, I use a two-sided guide, called the Audubon Alliance Bird Identifier, courtesy of my mother, to figure out my backyard visitors.

The other day I happened to overhear bits of a conversation between a mother and daughter. The daughter, perhaps in middle school, was questioning why her mother was buying large quantities of colored paper.

The mother replied that she was volunteering. But why are you volunteering, the daughter asked. Why do it? The mother explained in brief that there was a project for the school and when a lot of people pitched in, the project would get done, to help out the school. That volunteering was a good thing to do.

It certainly was for the Stapleton School in Framingham. Thanks to the efforts of a parent volunteer, the school just received a $ 1500 donation from Bob’s Discount Furniture. Parent Michelle Baker had taken the time to submit a letter to Bob’s Random Acts of Kindness Program which each month randomly selects nominated organizations and give them a donation. Thanks to Baker’s letter, Stapleton School was chosen as a recipient this month.

Kudos to Baker and all parents who volunteer in large and small ways to support their schools. Not only are they helping their community, they are setting a good example to their children, that it’s not just about me, it’s about my community.