Events across Minnesota will mark Veterans Day, centennial of WWI armistice

Communities across Minnesota will host programs and ceremonies Sunday to mark Veterans Day, as well as the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I.

The armistice famously took effect at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918.

Here are a few of the many events that will be held Sunday in the Twin Cities and elsewhere in Minnesota:

1. The state of Minnesota Veterans Day Celebration will take place at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Community Center, 8055 Barbara Ave. in Inver Grove Heights. The program will have a focus on the centennial of the World War I armistice, and end with the tolling of a bell at 11 a.m. — part of a nationwide, coordinated bell-tolling to mark the exact centennial of the armistice. The Minnesota Military Museum's 30-foot World War I America mural. depicting 100 notable individuals from the era, will be on display.

2. Hennepin County will host a ceremony recognizing Veterans Day and the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice at 10 a.m. at the flagpole plaza at 45th Avenue North and Victory Memorial Drive, on the border between Minneapolis and Robbinsdale. The trees and monuments along Victory Memorial Drive honor the 568 Hennepin County service men and women who died in World War I. Sunday's event will include speakers on the local history of World War I, music, a 21-gun salute and a moment of silence at 11 a.m.

3. A "Day of Peace" observance will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. It includes a story of programs and songs by Veterans for Peace from 10-11:30 a.m.; and a "Peace Fair" from noon to 2 p.m.

4. The Minnesota Veterans Home in Silver Bay will host a Veterans Day program at 10:30 a.m.

5. "Bells of Peace" ceremony from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Northrop Plaza on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. From organizers: "The Oratorio Society of Minnesota, the Minnesota Military Museum and Northrop will join in the nationwide Bells of Peace ceremony. Beginning at 10:45 a.m. on the Northrop Plaza with a reading of Laurence Binyon's 1914 poem "For the Fallen," an honor guard will toll a bell 21 times which is based on the 21-gun salute, the nation's highest honor. After that, the names of each of the over 1,400 Minnesota soldiers killed in combat during World War I will be read. The ceremony will conclude with the playing of Taps."

6. There will be a Veterans Day program at 11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park in Winona, organized by the Winona Veterans Council. The program will focus on World War I, and include volleys of a Civil War cannon.

7. Crookston will host a Veterans Day wreath ceremony, followed by brunch, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at VFW Post 1902 in Crookston.

8. The veterans homes in Minneapolis and Fergus Falls each will host a Veterans Day program at 2 p.m.; the veterans home in Luverne will host a program at 2:30 p.m.

9. "Lest We Forget," a World War I armistice centenary concert, 4 p.m. at Northrop Auditorium on the U of M Twin Cities campus. Directed by the Oratorio Society of Minnesota's Artistic Director Matthew Mehaffey. It will be the U.S. premiere of composer Patrick Hawes' "The Great War Symphony" — a four-movement, hour-long work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. More information on tickets can be found here.

   The concert will be broadcast live on Classical MPR; find more information about the broadcast here.