Historians are taking another look at the number of North Carolina soldiers who died in the Civil War. Research historian Josh Howard heads the North Carolina Civil War Death Study at the NC Office of Archives and History. He has looked though official military records, but also the records of hospitals, cemeteries, churches, prisoner of war camps, pensions, and census, as well as newspaper accounts and diaries to determine deaths among the state's Confederate and Union units.

He found that traditional counts did not include African American and white North Carolinians who died serving the Union army.

Howard will give a lunchtime lecture on July 27 at the NC Museum of History, discussing his research and sharing interesting stories of the soldiers' experiences. The program, called Recounting Civil War Sacrifices, is part of the museum's History a la Carte series. It starts at 12:10 and is free to the public.

A quick plug for what should be an entertaining and informative Earth
Day event actually being held on Earth Day (which is Wednesday, FYI).

If going to Pullen Park
— with the train, the merry-go-round, the playground — isn't about
being a kid, no matter how old you are, we don't know what is. Starting
Wednesday, it becomes even more so.

Here's a hike I'm guessing you haven't done: Umstead State Park to Carter-Finley Stadium. (Unless you've done it before on a Rod Broadbelt marathon hike.) On the face of it, that might sound like an odd hike. It's not. It's just unusual ...

Love the idea of getting out and moving for a good cause, but posses a pair of knees that aren't so charitable? Check out the Triangle Arthritis Walk scheduled for April 18. The walk is part of Let's Move Together, a new campaign by the Arthritis Foundation intended to help folks ward off or treat arthritis. (Fact: About 46 million Americans — 1 in 5 of us — suffer from arthritis.)

And talk about user friendly, the Triangle Arthritis Walk is billed as  "family-friendly, dog-friendly." There'll be a kids carnival, health fair, snacks and prizes; a performance by The Bouncing Bulldogs (jump ropers extraordinaire); demonstrations of yoga and Tai Chi for folks with arthritis; and, perhaps best of all, if you can't do the whole three-mile walk, there's a one-mile option. No, wait, even better: It has a sleep-in friendly start time of 10 a.m. Participants must raise a minimum of $25 (that scores your a T-shirt!). The walk is at the Imperial Center in Durham.

For more info or to register, go here. For information on other walks and runs this spring, go here.

Doesn't that look like fun? Dressing like a cheerleader and leaping into the 51-degree water of Edenton Bay at Edenton? It looked good to 60 folks Saturday — the 60 who apparently thought, "Hey, it's 67 degrees out! How cold could the water f-e-e-e-e-e-llllll-AYIIIIIEEEEEE!"

It cost $25 to jump, we're told, and the 2nd Annual Polar Plunge raised $10,000 overall for the Chowan County North Carolina Special Olympics. (That's up $2,000 from last year, in a down economy.)

Sound like fun? Keep the first weekend in March open for 2010.

A reminder that the spring version of last fall's inaugural Fit-tastic run-a-5K-in-just-13-weeks program kicks off Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at The Athlete's Foot store in Cameron Village. For $35, you get fitness screenings, a program training resource booklet, weekly training sessions, coaching and much, much more. (How much more you can find out by clicking here.) The goal: To have you ready to tackle the Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure 5K on June 13.

The goal of the fall Fit-tastic program was the Monster Dash. 

If you didn't get a chance to run through the streets of downtown Raleigh Sunday in kilt or a skirt, here's another event you might consider (another run in our growing list of spring 5K runs and walks). It's the Triangle Builds Smiles and Walks Miles walk April 18 at 10 a.m. at Bond Park in Cary. The event benefits the Oral Cancer Foundation. Registration is $20 and includes a T-shirt.

More info by emailing trianglesmiles@gmail.com or calling 380-7624.

And some without shorts. (But it's OK, they were wearing kilts).

Another run to add to our list of spring 5Ks: the St. Timothy's School Spring Sprint, April 18, 9:30 a.m. (1-mile fun run is at 9 a.m.), St. Timothy's School, 4523 Six Forks Road beside North Hills Shopping Area. Benefits the Wake Med Pediatric Diabetes Program. More info, registration at www.active.com and www.sportoften.com.

For already posted runs, go here.