5 Things You Need to Know Today: May 26

1. Celebrate the conclusion of May's National Military Appreciation Month at the Hopkinton Public Library Wednesday, June 1 at 7 p.m. Library archivist Linda Connelly of Hopkinton has gathered stories, photos and artifacts from the library's Treasure Room and there will be presentations by Connelly; Hopkinton resident Russ Greve on the Revolutionary War; Hopkinton's Steve Bartlett on Hopkinton soldiers fighting the Civil War;  and Ray Gendreau on (the mysterious Daniel) Shays' Rebellion. What is known about Shays is that he was born to an indentured Irish mother in Hopkinton. He fought heroically and unpaid in the Revolutionary War only to return to debt and dishonor. His armed reaction upset such famous U.S. forefathers as George Washington,  John Hancock and Sam Adams, and led to a stronger federal government. What is mysterious is that Shays never allowed his portrait to be painted, so the only picture we have of him is in words.

2. Multi Family Yard Sale, Saturday, June 4, 2011,  8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 12 Greystone Lane and 1 Split Rock Lane (same neighborhood).  Help us recycle our treasures and support The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Multiple families selling furniture, books, infant and children's clothing, toys, kitchenware, linens, home decor, a lawn mower, a Kelty Carrier, a covered bike trailer, exercise equipment - such as a Stairmaster 4400 PT Stair Stepper. And more! All proceeds support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  We're In it to end it!  

3. The Hopkinton School Committee meets tonight at 7:30 in the Hopkinton Middle School library. The agenda includes recognition and congratulations to Hopkinton High School's Robotics Team and the Hopkinton High School Drama Ensemble for . Also on the agenda, rising school lunch prices, repair plans for all three elementary schools, revisions to the Hopkinton Middle School handbook, a memorandum of understanding with teachers' bargaining units and the release of funds for two memorial scholarships.

4. With the death toll rising from Midwest tornadoes, and many of those deaths attributed to the suddenness and lack of warning from the killer storms, it is worth re-iterating a caution from Fire Chief Ken Clark about Hopkinton's disaster-preparedness program. Hopkinton is part of the Emergency Communications Network CodeRED high-speed notification program. CodeRED allows Hopkinton officials to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire town, including cell phones. Clark warns that the system is only as good as the telephone-number database supporting it. "If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called," he said. Clark says neither businesses nor indviduals should assume their phone numbers are included. Anyone in Hopkinton can register here or call the Fire Department at (508)-435-0555, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to  3:30 p.m.

5. Two reminders: Almost 200 Massachusetts law-enforcement agencies, including Hopkinton and state police, are taking part in a zero-tolerance Click It or Ticket seat-belt-enforcement campaign through the Memorial Day weekend and until June 5.  Also, to start the holiday weekend, Friday night, May 27, into Saturday, May 28, state police will conduct Sobriety Checkpoints in Middlesex County. Middlesex includes Hopkinton and most communities to the east. If you're driving, think before that drink.