STERLING —A public pitch party sponsored by Sterling Grange will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the Sterling Senior Center, 36 Muddy Pond Road. Admission is $4. Attendance prizes will be awarded, and refreshments will be served. For more information, email sterlinggrange53@gmail. com or call 978-563-1437.

I’m definitely an old adage kind of guy. Our forebears used them to share information about nature before scientific knowledge was being taught in schools to make note of relationships that benefited them, prior to the times we live in now where we just go to the store to buy our food or lawn care products. Certainly we can and often do get a lot of rain in April, our first full month of spring, but plenty of flowers come out in April and other changes in our natural landscape in advance of the growing season. Chipmunks have woken up, and I am seeing them running along stone walls. The big snowstorm in March, which came as a surprise given how the winter started, slowed down at least temporarily the emergence and return of some animals. Recent warmer temps and rain have gotten things back on track. Spotted salamanders, spring peeper frogs and wood frogs will soon come out from the leaf litter on a rainy evening and make their march to small ponds for their annual spring mating.

HOLDEN — The glimpse of warmer weather last week revealed that the Holden Community Garden Committee is hard at work planning to expand this spring. The group hopes to double the number of garden plots available to the public, from 11 to 23; add raised beds for those who have difficulty gardening at ground level; and install a drip irrigation system to conserve water.

PRINCETON — NEADS World Class Service Dogs, based in Princeton, is looking for teams and sponsors to take part in the NEADS Pulling 4 Paws Truck Pull on April 23 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Polar Park in Worcester.

RUTLAND — The Rutland Historical Society will host its annual meeting and the program “A Revolution of Her Own” at the Rutland Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18. “A Revolution of Her Own” is a theatrical performance portraying the life of Deborah Sampson, also named Massachusetts’ State Heroine.

Nancy Black, Tribune Content Agency TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (04/06/23). Follow personal passion this year. Attain prizes with steady practice, planning and coordination. You’re on top of the world this spring. A shared financial twist requires summer resolution, deepening autumn collaboration and partnership. Discover new income sources next winter. Love inspires greatness.