Veterans Day in Utica: Where to Go Wednesday, Nov. 11

Wednesday is Veterans Day, and Utica marks it from breakfast to the evening puck drop. Here is the day in one place.

Morning: MVCC. Mohawk Valley Community College hosts a Veterans Day breakfast at 9:30 a.m. in Room 116 of the Alumni College Center on its Utica Campus, 1101 Sherman Drive. Reservations are required, call 315-792-5699. At 11 a.m. the flag-raising ceremony follows on the interior Quad in front of the Academic Building, with Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. and retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Peter Lennon scheduled to speak. The observance also marks America's 250th anniversary and MVCC's 80th. The college was founded to serve veterans returning from World War II.

Midday: Munson, free. Munson's Art Alive! Free Family Day runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Museum's Root Court, with art-making for families and the Pushcart Players performing "A More Perfect Union" at 11 a.m. (with an ASL interpreter on stage) and a workshop at 1 p.m. The Utica ZooMobile joins in Root Court from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

All day: Memorial Parkway. The Good News Foundation's Flags for Heroes Healing Field, 1,000 American flags honoring veterans, first responders and local heroes, is on display along Memorial Parkway through Wednesday, Nov. 11. Its recognition ceremony was Saturday.

Evening: the Comets. Utica hosts the Belleville Senators at 6 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center for its annual Veterans Day game, with patriotic tributes throughout and a specialty jersey nodding to America 250.

And behind the scenes: hundreds of handwritten thank-you cards from Mohawk Valley students are already reaching local veterans this week through Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon's seventh annual Cards for Vets initiative.