5 Things You Need to Know Today, Sept. 13

Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. 

Today is Thursday, Sept. 13. Here are 5 things you need to know:

• Sunny and warm: Looks like another nice day today. According to the National Weather Service we can expect sunny skies with a high near 82 degrees. Mostly clear tonight with a low around 56. 

• Public meetings: The Conservation Commission is meting at 7 p.m. in the main hearing room at . The Library Board of Trustees is meeting at 7 p.m. in the .

• Dough raiser: "Shawls From the Heart," a Woburn-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing knitted and crocheted shawls and blankets for women undergoing extensive medical treatments is holding a fundraising event with today and tomorrow. Present a voucher when ordering a meal and the restaurant will donate 20 percent of the total to the group. Vouchers are available at www.shawlsfromtheheart.org/DoughRaiserVoucher.pdf.

• "Like" us today: Did you know that Burlington Patch has a Facebook page? We post updates throughout the day and invite friends to comment on links, pictures and stories. Join in the conversation by "liking" our page by clicking here. Last count we were at 729 followers and we'd really like to hit 750!

• The Defense of Fort McHenry: On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry," which would later become our United States' national anthem. The poem was written after Key witnessed an attack during the War of 1812. The song was eventually tied together with the popular English drinking song "To Anacreon in Heaven" by John Stafford Smith. It was adopted as our national anthem in 1931.