Silents Are Golden at The Strand

1. Ron Carter, organist for the , will bring the 1925 silent Ben Hur to life today just as they did when the silent films were golden. This isn't your grandparents' Ben Hur starring Charlton Heston, but your great-grandparents' version with Ramon Navarro. And the chariot scene is just as spectacular.

The movie starts at 3 p.m. but get there by 2:30 p.m. for an organ pops variety show and sing-along featuring the Strand's Mighty Allen Theatre Organ. Tickets are $8 for adults and $7 for children, students, and seniors.

Visit www.EarlSmithStrand.org or call 770-293-0080 for tickets and details.

2. The Cobb County Gymnastics Center recently learned that it will become the site of the very first USA Gymnastics Special Olympics Championships, which will be held May 7. This national event, sponsored jointly by USA Gymnastics and Special Olympics, will feature competition in artistic gymnastics (men, women and unified), rhythmic gymnastics (individual, group and unified) and TeamGym.

The USA Gymnastics Special Olympics Championships will be hosted locally by Chattooga Gymnastics, Special Olympics Georgia and Cobb County Special Olympics.

3. Linda Kurtz, a third grade teacher at , is among more than 200 third- through fifth-grade teachers selected nationwide to attend the 2011 Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. The academy is a one-week, all-expense-paid intensive professional development program designed to provide the teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to motivate students to pursue careers in science and math.

4. in April is hosting its Fourth Annual Peanut Butter and Jelly Food Drive as a benefit to 30 area food pantries near the bank's 42 branches, including three in the Marietta area.

Anyone can drop off their peanut butter and jelly donations at any branch location during normal banking hours. Last year, the bank collected nearly three tons of peanut butter and jelly during the drive, enough to make 46,297 sandwiches for children in metro Atlanta.

For information, visit bankofnorthgeorgia.com.

5. Today is Pony Express Day. Do you remember the days of the Pony Express? If you do, send mail through the express immediately to Marietta Patch so we can write about the city's oldest resident. The Pony Express ran only from April 3, 1860, to October 1861, yet remains vivid in the American imagination, and the phrase "pony express" remains a trademark owned by the U.S. Postal Service.