Don't Miss the Bedford Strawberry Festival!

1. Shoutout for strawberries! The fourth-annual Bedford Strawberry Festival, organized by the Friends of Town of Bedford Cemeteries, is scheduled for Saturday, June 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the athletic fields near the performance state at the Bedford Memorial Pool on County Road. In addition to exhibitors from local service organizations and town entities, there will be local artists and craftsman, face painting and, of course, a strawberry shortcake eating contest to benefit the Stevens-Busewell School project. 

2. Spring cool-down. There's no rain in the forecast, but today's predicted high temperature, according to Weather.com, is only 61 degrees with a 0-percent change of precipitation. Never fear, though. Temperatures are expected to gradually rise back into the low 80s by Friday.

3. Bulldogs Bites. Here's today's schedule for Bedford High School sports programs (information obtained from HighSchoolSports.net):

• 4:00 p.m. -  Boys Varsity Lacrosse vs. Bow High School
• 4:00 p.m. - Girls Junior Varsity Softball vs. Spaulding HS
• 4:30 p.m. -  Girls Varsity Softball vs. Spaulding HS
• 5:30 p.m. - Boys Junior Varsity Lacrosse vs. Bow High School
• 6:30 p.m. -  Boys Varsity Baseball vs. Bedford High School

4. Library lowdown. The following is a list of events and/or activities at the Bedford Public Library today:

• 10:00AM-10:45AM- Children's CastleDrop-in story time (ages 3 & up)

• 7:00PM-9:00PM - Richmond Room - NH Battle Flags Preservation Committee 2012-13

• 7:30PM-9:00PM - McAllaster Room - Craftworkers' Guild Membership Meeting

5. On this day ... May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II survived being shot in St. Peter's Square, in the Vatican in Rome. According to History.com:

Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca, an escaped fugitive already convicted of a previous murder, fired several shots at the religious leader, two of which wounded nearby tourists. Agca was immediately captured.

Agca claimed that he had planned to go to England to kill the king but couldn't because it turned out there was only a queen and "Turks don't shoot women." He also claimed to have Palestinian connections, although the PLO quickly denied any involvement. Detectives believed that his confession had been coached in order to throw investigators offtrack.

When his trial began on July 20, 1981, Agca tried an unlikely legal gambit: He maintained that Italy did not have the right to prosecute him since the crime occurred at the Vatican. Although he threatened to go on a hunger strike if his trial wasn't shifted to a Vatican court, his request was denied and he was found guilty two days later. He was sentenced to life in prison but released in 2010 due to several amnesties and changes to the penal code.