diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES.txt b/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
index 55f48decd..e7b624e78 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-$Id$
-
-                        Commons Lang Package
+                        Apache Commons Lang
                             Version 3.1
                            Release Notes
 
@@ -18,23 +16,37 @@ For the advice on upgrading from 2.x to 3.x, see the following page:
 
     http://commons.apache.org/lang/article3_0.html
 
-CHANGES IN 3.1
-================
+Commons Lang, a package of Java utility classes for the
+classes that are in java.lang's hierarchy, or are considered to be so
+standard as to justify existence in java.lang.
 
-    [LANG-760] Add API StringUtils.toString(byte[] intput, String charsetName)
-    [LANG-756] Add APIs ClassUtils.isPrimitiveWrapper(Class<?>) and isPrimitiveOrWrapper(Class<?>)
-    [LANG-758] Add an example with whitespace in StringUtils.defaultIfEmpty
-    [LANG-752] Fix createLong() so it behaves like createInteger()
-    [LANG-751] Include the actual type in the Validate.isInstance and isAssignableFrom exception messages
-    [LANG-748] Deprecating chomp(String, String)
-    [LANG-736] CharUtils static final array CHAR_STRING is not needed to compute CHAR_STRING_ARRAY
-    [LANG-695] SystemUtils.IS_OS_UNIX doesn't recognize FreeBSD as a Unix system
+November release
 
-BUG FIXES IN 3.1
-==================
+Changes in this version include:
 
-    [LANG-749] Incorrect Bundle-SymbolicName in Manifest
-    [LANG-746] NumberUtils does not handle upper-case hex: 0X and -0X
-    [LANG-744] StringUtils throws java.security.AccessControlException on Google App Engine
-    [LANG-741] Ant build has wrong component.name
-    [LANG-698] Document that the Mutable numbers don't work as expected with String.format
+New features:
+o LANG-760:  Add API StringUtils.toString(byte[] intput, String charsetName)
+o LANG-756:  Add APIs ClassUtils.isPrimitiveWrapper(Class<?>) and isPrimitiveOrWrapper(Class<?>)
+o LANG-695:  SystemUtils.IS_OS_UNIX doesn't recognize FreeBSD as a Unix system
+
+Fixed Bugs:
+o LANG-749:  Incorrect Bundle-SymbolicName in Manifest
+o LANG-746:  NumberUtils does not handle upper-case hex: 0X and -0X
+o LANG-744:  StringUtils throws java.security.AccessControlException on Google App Engine
+o LANG-741:  Ant build has wrong component.name
+o LANG-698:  Document that the Mutable numbers don't work as expected with String.format
+
+Changes:
+o LANG-758:  Add an example with whitespace in StringUtils.defaultIfEmpty
+o LANG-752:  Fix createLong() so it behaves like createInteger()
+o LANG-751:  Include the actual type in the Validate.isInstance and isAssignableFrom exception messages
+o LANG-748:  Deprecating chomp(String, String)
+o LANG-736:  CharUtils static final array CHAR_STRING is not needed to compute CHAR_STRING_ARRAY
+
+
+Historical list of changes: http://commons.apache.org/lang/changes-report.html
+
+For complete information on Commons Lang, including instructions on how to submit bug reports,
+patches, or suggestions for improvement, see the Apache Commons Lang website:
+
+http://commons.apache.org/lang/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/changes/changes.xml b/src/changes/changes.xml
index ed00ddfa0..47345b562 100644
--- a/src/changes/changes.xml
+++ b/src/changes/changes.xml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
     <action issue="LANG-788" type="fix">SerializationUtils throws ClassNotFoundException when cloning primitive classes</action>
     <action issue="LANG-786" type="fix">StringUtils equals() relies on undefined behavior</action>
     <action issue="LANG-783" type="fix">Documentation bug: StringUtils.split</action>
+    <action issue="LANG-777" type="fix">jar contains velocity template of release notes</action>
     <action issue="LANG-776" type="fix">TypeUtilsTest contains incorrect type assignability assertion</action>
     <action issue="LANG-775" type="fix">TypeUtils.getTypeArguments() misses type arguments for partially-assigned classes</action>
     <action issue="LANG-773" type="fix">ImmutablePair doc contains nonsense text</action>
diff --git a/src/changes/release-notes.vm b/src/changes/release-notes.vm
index f36bd350d..f5410ffce 100644
--- a/src/changes/release-notes.vm
+++ b/src/changes/release-notes.vm
@@ -15,9 +15,23 @@
 ## specific language governing permissions and limitations
 ## under the License.
 ##
-              Apache ${project.name} ${version} RELEASE NOTES
+                        Apache ${project.name}
+                            Version ${version}
+                           Release Notes
 
-The ${developmentTeam} is pleased to announce the release of ${finalName}
+
+INTRODUCTION:
+
+This document contains the release notes for the ${version} version of Apache Commons Lang.
+Commons Lang is a set of utility functions and reusable components that should be of use in any 
+Java environment.
+
+Lang 3.0 and onwards now targets Java 5.0, making use of features that arrived with Java 5.0 such as generics, 
+variable arguments, autoboxing, concurrency and formatted output.
+
+For the advice on upgrading from 2.x to 3.x, see the following page: 
+
+    http://commons.apache.org/lang/article3_0.html
 
 $introduction.replaceAll("(?<!\015)\012", "
 ").replaceAll("(?m)^ +","")
diff --git a/src/main/resources/templates/release-notes.vm b/src/main/resources/templates/release-notes.vm
deleted file mode 100644
index c20dd538f..000000000
--- a/src/main/resources/templates/release-notes.vm
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,136 +0,0 @@
-## Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-## or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-## distributed with this work for additional information
-## regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-## to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-## "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-## with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-##
-##  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-##
-## Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-## software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-## "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-## KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-## specific language governing permissions and limitations
-## under the License.
-
-                        Apache ${project.name} Package
-                            Version ${version}
-                           Release Notes
-
-
-INTRODUCTION:
-
-This document contains the release notes for the ${version} version of Apache Commons Lang.
-Commons Lang is a set of utility functions and reusable components that should be of use in any 
-Java environment.
-
-Lang 3.0 and onwards now targets Java 5.0, making use of features that arrived with Java 5.0 such as generics, 
-variable arguments, autoboxing, concurrency and formatted output.
-
-For the advice on upgrading from 2.x to 3.x, see the following page: 
-
-    http://commons.apache.org/lang/article3_0.html
-
-## Hack to improve layout: replace all pairs of spaces with a single new-line
-##$release.description.replaceAll("  ", "
-##")
-
-#if ($release.getActions().size() == 0)
-No changes defined in this version.
-#else
-Changes in this version include:
-
-#if ($release.getActions('add').size() !=0)
-New features:
-#foreach($actionItem in $release.getActions('add'))
-#set($action=$actionItem.getAction())
-#if ($actionItem.getIssue())
-#set($issue=$actionItem.getIssue())
-#else
-#set($issue="")
-#end
-#if ($actionItem.getDueTo())
-#set($dueto=$actionItem.getDueTo())
-#else
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-o#if($!issue != "") $issue: #end ${action} #if($!dueto != "")Thanks to $dueto. #end
-
-#set($issue="")
-#set($dueto="")
-#end 
-#end
-
-#if ($release.getActions('fix').size() !=0)
-Fixed Bugs:
-#foreach($actionItem in $release.getActions('fix'))
-#set($action=$actionItem.getAction())
-#if ($actionItem.getIssue())
-#set($issue=$actionItem.getIssue())
-#else
-#set($issue="")
-#end
-#if ($actionItem.getDueTo())
-#set($dueto=$actionItem.getDueTo())
-#else
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-o#if($!issue != "") $issue: #end ${action} #if($!dueto != "")Thanks to $dueto. #end
-
-#set($issue="")
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-#end
-
-#if ($release.getActions('update').size() !=0)
-Changes:
-#foreach($actionItem in $release.getActions('update'))
-#set($action=$actionItem.getAction())
-#if ($actionItem.getIssue())
-#set($issue=$actionItem.getIssue())
-#else
-#set($issue="")
-#end
-#if ($actionItem.getDueTo())
-#set($dueto=$actionItem.getDueTo())
-#else
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-o#if($!issue != "") $issue: #end ${action} #if($!dueto != "")Thanks to $dueto. #end
-
-#set($issue="")
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-#end
-
-#if ($release.getActions('remove').size() !=0)
-Removed:
-#foreach($actionItem in $release.getActions('remove'))
-#set($action=$actionItem.getAction())
-#if ($actionItem.getIssue())
-#set($issue=$actionItem.getIssue())
-#else
-#set($issue="")
-#end
-#if ($actionItem.getDueTo())
-#set($dueto=$actionItem.getDueTo())
-#else
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-o#if($!issue != "") $issue: #end ${action} #if($!dueto != "")Thanks to $dueto. #end
-
-#set($issue="")
-#set($dueto="")
-#end
-#end
-## End of main loop
-#end
- 
-For complete information on ${project.name}, including instructions on how to submit bug reports,
-patches, or suggestions for improvement, see the Apache ${project.name} website:
-
-${project.url}
-
-