Guide to Veterans Day events around Rochester and Saturday’s parade

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Friday is Veterans Day, a federal holiday to honor all those who have served in the U.S. military. Here are some events happening around Rochester to honor veterans.

Friday

Greece Performing Arts Society Veterans Day Concert: The concert will feature patriotic music and Americana favorites performed by the Greece Choral Society. It starts at 7 p.m. at the Hochstein Performance Hall.

Special guests include Emcee Brenda Tremblay from WXXI Classical 91.5, New York State Senator Samra Brouk, Color Guard, Prime Time Brass, and vocal artist Mary Wojciechowski. Tickets are $10 for general admission and free for veterans.

Free Fishing Day: Get out your fishing poles and tackle boxes. Free Fishing Day in New York State is on the same day as Veterans Day.

The state says fishing is considered one of the most therapeutic outdoor activities, which is a great activity for veterans. New Yorkers can fish license-free in any of the Empire State’s fresh waters. All other regulations are still in effect. This is the last of four Free Fishing Days this year.

Free donuts for veterans:

Dunkin’ Donuts is offering “a small thanks for a huge service.” Veterans and active duty military can get a free donut. No purchase is necessary. It’s part of Dunkin’s ongoing Veterans Day Initiative, which also includes sending coffee to troops stationed overseas.

Saturday

First-ever Rochester Veterans Day Parade: Monroe County is holding its first-ever Veterans Day Parade on Saturday. It starts at 10:30 am. at the corner of South Goodman and Highland Avenue. It will then proceed to the Gary Beikirch Memorial Park.

Mayor Malik Evans said that, while we can never fully repay the debt we owe our veterans, we can start by celebrating our local service members, past and present.

“When we are safe in our beds, our men and women in uniform are keeping the world safe and keeping America safe so that way, I can stand in this building and say whatever I want to say because there are people on the frontlines keeping us safe,” Evans said.

Longtime radio host Alan “Brother Wease” Levin, who served three tours with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, will serve as the parade’s grand marshal.

Avon Central School District Veterans Day 5K: Avon Central School is hosting a Veteran’s Day (wear red, white and blue) run. The course will take place at the Avon school campus to include an 800M kids run.

The kids run starts at 9:30 a.m. and the 5K starts at 10 a.m. Proceeds will go to Livingston County Veterans. The course is a fun one with the finish set up on the 50 yard line of the football field. Timing and bibs provided by Rochester Running Company (Robin Hood Racing Race Timing).

Already happened

Friday: The town of Chili held its third annual Veterans Day Parade. Veterans were invited to sit and gather at four locations around Chili.

Town staff came to greet them with coffee and donuts. There was also a parade of 35 to 40 vehicles that came by each location. They stopped and everyone got out to thank the veterans for their service.

“We typically do a veterans breakfast and we still do that every year but during COVID, we had to cut that back so we decided to do something like this and during the COVID craze we had all those drive by birthday parades so we kind of said let’s take that model and do it for our veterans,” said Mike Curley, Recreation Director of the Town of Chili.

Local government, fire officials, and law enforcement officials all came out for the parade.

Friday: The Rochester Institute of Technology held its eleventh annual Veterans Day breakfast on Friday.

Hundreds of veterans, active military personnel, and ROTC cadets and families came to RIT’s campus to commemorate the people who have served.

ROTC leaders at RIT say the celebration is just as impactful for ROTC cadets as for the veterans themselves.

“I teach the army ROTC program here and we get an opportunity to bring the next generation in and expose them to the veterans who’ve come before them, said Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Jendry, professor of military science at RIT. “And it’s really awesome to see that interaction happen here on RIT’s campus.”

Two veterans at the event won awards for commitment to service in and out of the military.