Hey Greenwich! Did You Know ... Lights, Camera, Action—and Voting Machines?

Today is Wednesday, April 18, 2012 and it's lions, tigers and bears, oh my! It's national Animal Crackers Day. Who doesn't remember munching on those tiny animal-shaped wafers that came in the little red box?

The Stauffer Biscuit Co. in York, PA introduced the cookie in 1871, but it wasn't until 1902 that the "Barnum's Animals" circus theme box débuted. More than 40 million packages of animal crackers are sold each year around the world, according to Punchbowl.com.

This day in history:

The Great San Francisco earthquake rattled the bayside city in 1906 and was felt for hundreds of miles north to Oregon and south to Los Angeles. Nearly 30,000 buildings were destroyed and an estimated 3,000 people were killed.

In 1956, one of America's popular actresses Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.

In 1983, the U.S. embassy in Beirut is heavily destroyed by a car-bomb explosion that killed 63 people, including the suicide bomber and 17 Americans.

Locally...Here's What You're Going to Want to Know ...

The Republican Presidential Primary is next week and all registered Republicans will be able to vote in Greenwich public schools.

Unlike Election Day, students will be in school on April 24 and town election officials are working closely with the schools to ensure there's adequate parking, and to alleviate some of the safety concerns when thousands of adult voters are using the same facilities as thousands of students.

Republican Registrar of Voters Fred DeCaro III says, "All schools will have parking areas clearly marked for voters. Please park in these spaces, which were selected to avoid buses and parents picking up and dropping off children. Each school has a different start and dismissal time."

DeCaro suggests avoiding the school polling places during early morning and late afternoon. The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Here's a class schedule:

• Julian Curtiss School: 7:45 – 8:15 AM; 2:30 – 3 PM
• Western Middle School: 7:15 – 7:45 AM; 2:20 – 2:50PM
• New Lebanon School: 7:45 – 8:15 AM; 2:30 – 3 PM
• Riverside School: 8:15 – 8:45 AM; 3 – 3:30 PM
• Old Greenwich School: 8:15 – 8:45 AM; 3 – 3:30 PM
• Greenwich High School: 7 – 7:30 AM; 2 – 2:30 PM
• Central Middle School: 7:15 – 7:45 AM; 2:20 – 2:50PM
• Glenville School: 8:15 – 8:45 AM; 3 – 3:30 PM
• North Street School: 8:15 – 8:45 AM; 3 – 3:30 PM
• North Mianus School: 8:15 – 8:45 AM; 3 – 3:30 PM

Got popcorn?

Lights, camera, action ... plan to settle in for an afternoon of films and videos on April 28—all produced by students from Greenwich and throughout the region when the hosts its inaugural Greenwich Youth Film Festival (GYFF).

Judges for the competition include Ron Howard for Creative, Gretchen Carlson for Public Service Announcement, Clay Pecorin for Documentary, Blue Sky Studios for Animation and Jeff Cardoni for Music Video. Judges' comments will be shared about the winning films. There were 130 film entries, 36 have been selected as finalists.

The afternoon also will feature a presentation by Kevin Segalla, founder of Connecticut Film Center, and will conclude with an award ceremony during which the five genre winners and one grand prize winner will be announced. Each genre winner will receive $500 in cash. The grand prize winner will receive an additional $1,500 and an all expense paid trip (including airfare and hotel for three nights) to visit the set of the next  production by Two Ton Films, a movie production company owned by Pecorin, a Greenwich resident.

Here's the list of finalists:

DOCUMENTARY

• Jeremy Fischer; South Salem, NY; John Jay High School
• Phillip Fuentes; Bridgeport; Bassick High School
• Jake Palmer; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Caroline Kelly; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Grace Isford; Greenwich; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Nicole Calandra; West Harrison, NY; Greenwich Academy

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

• Amanda Crowell; Sandy Hook; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Jackson C. Davis; White Plains, NY; Woodlands High School
• Jake Palmer; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Michael Bowling; White Plains, NY; New York School for the Deaf
• Victoria Stein; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Grace Isford; Greenwich; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Shenice Rutterford Maxton; Ossining, NY; Ossining High School
• Sheila Moran; Rye, NY; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Alexandra Root; Greenwich; Convent of the Sacred Heart

MUSIC VIDEO:

• Lukas Arbogast; Briarcliff Manor, NY; Briarcliff High School
• Victoria Stein; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Patrick Dillon; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Gemma Gamberdene; Wilton; Wilton High School

CREATIVE

• Ben Adler; Briarcliff Manor, NY; Briarcliff High School
• Margo Bugniazet; Rye, NY; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Isobel Hepsworth; Greenwich; Greenwich Academy
• Victoria Stein; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Max Galassi; Newtown; Newtown High School
• Jay Alter; Darien; Darien High School
• Shannon Longworth; Katonah, NY; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Maxwell Forrest Denenberg & Jack Lynch; Mamaroneck, NY; Rye Neck High School
• Charles Khosla; Rye, NY; Rye Country Day School
• Isa Goldberg; Greenwich; Greenwich High School
• Nicole Brydon Bloom; Darien; Convent of the Sacred Heart

ANIMATION

• Lindsay Arader; Stamford
• Shannon Shopkowski; Ridgefield; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Patrick McCabe; Westlake High School
• Erin Manning; Stamford; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Catherine Cunningham; Greenwich; Convent of the Sacred Heart
• Matthew Seife; Scarsdale, NY; Edgemont High School

It all starts at 1 p.m. April 28. For free tickets log on to www.jlgreenwich.org. Film screenings are intended for a teen to adult audience.

If you prefer the clicker ...

Greenwich Community Television, the local government access channel, can be viewed on channel 24 and Cablevision channel 79.

If you'd rather be there ... today's town meetings include:

• 9:30AM Selectmen's Nominations Advisory Committee
• 8:00PM Planning & Zoning Board of Appeals (PZBA)

The meetings are held at Town Hall, 101 Field Point Rd.

Sources: history.com and punchbowl.com.