Veterans Week around Tompkins County
Welcome to the calendar of events for activities observing Veterans Week in Tompkins County, Nov. 6-12, 2022. Activities listed below are sponsored by various entities to honor our County’s community of Veterans, including our families.
All November:
Operation Greenlight
Facilities belonging to Tompkins County, City of Ithaca, and Village of Trumansburg – along with numerous homes, businesses, and institutions -- will be lit with green lights during the week and month in support of Veterans across Tompkins County. Operation Greenlight, which observance went from statewide in New York last year to nationwide in 2022, uses the color green to symbolize hope, renewal and wellbeing.
Find more information about Operation Greenlight and National Association of Counties
Veterans Wall of Honor
- Daily during November in main hallway of Cayuga Medical Center, 101 Dates Dr., Ithaca.
- Photo gallery honors staff with Cayuga Health Systems who are Veterans or have Veterans in their families.
- Veterans with ID will receive a discount in the gift shops and cafeterias at Cayuga Medical Center and Schuyler Hospital.
Tompkins County Veterans Exhibit & Archival Support
The History Center in Tompkins County, 110 N. Tioga St., Ithaca.
- Exhibits displaying some of the people of Tompkins County who have served our nation through military service. The History Center honors these Veterans with the display and will offer Veterans free archival prints from its Photographs Collections during November.
Proclamations:
Tompkins County Legislature – issued Nov. 4, 2022
City of Ithaca Common Council – issued Nov. 2, 2022
Village of Trumansburg – issued Nov. 7, 2022
Monday-Friday, Nov. 7-11
“Thank you Veterans” Banners and Military Trivia Lawn Signs
- Cornell University campus
Monday-Sunday, Nov. 7-13
Student Veteran Art Show
- Mann Library, first floor entrance, Cornell campus
Friday, Nov. 4, 2022
- 1730-1930/5:30-7:30p: Veterans Coffeehouse
- Co-hosted by:
- Tompkins County Department of Veterans Services
- Team RWB, Upstate NY Chapter
Saturday, Nov. 5
- 0900-1600/9a-4p: Ithaca City Cemetery Cleanup
- 1000/10a til gone: Groton American Legion “Famous Chicken BBQ”
- Groton American Legion Post 800
- Orders taken at 607.898.3837
Tuesday, Nov. 8
-1000-1200/10a-12p: McGraw House Veterans Coffeehouse & Open House
- 221 S. Geneva St., Ithaca
Veterans who reside at McGraw House and in the wider Tompkins County community, as
well as their spouses or surviving spouses, are welcome to gather for an Open House at
McGraw House in recognition of Veterans Week.
- 1900-2100/7-9p: Warrior Writers-Tompkins
- This session the Warrior Writers will attend a public reading by the winner of the Syracuse
University Press Veterans Writing Award, Brian O'Hare
-1900/7p The Rest Gallery, 113 W. M.L.K. Jr./State St., Ithaca
- 2000/8p Veteran Writers Meetup for Q&A , Pete’s Cayuga Bar
Thursday, Nov. 10
- 1200/12p: Ithaca College Veterans Day Celebration
Ford Hall – Whalen Center – School of Music, Theatre and Dance
Special Guest Speaker: Maj. Ari A Cohen of the United States Army
Master of Ceremonies: Art Ostrander
- 1300-1400/1-2p: Operation S.A.V.E.
Suicide Prevention Training with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and
the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - Greater Central New York.
A suicide prevention gatekeeper training. this program focuses on preventing suicide
attempts and saving lives that might otherwise be lost to suicide. It is designed to train
everyone who knows a Veteran to become a “gatekeeper.” The role of gatekeepers is
connecting those at risk for suicide with people who can help them. The training
reviews the scope of Veteran suicide within the United States, knowing how to identify
a Veteran who may be at risk for suicide, and then knowing what to do when you
identify a Veteran who may be at risk for suicide.
Registration required.
Friday, Nov. 11 VETERANS DAY 2022
- 0830-0930/ – Brookdale Ithaca Senior Living Veterans Day Breakfast
8:30-9:30a 103C Bundy Road, Ithaca
- The Brookdale community will honor Veterans by serving those who attend a
pancake breakfast.
- Call to RSVP or for more information: 607.592.7986
- 1100/11a: DeWitt Park Ceremony, Downtown Ithaca
The return of Ithaca's traditional Veterans Day Ceremony, hosted in collaboration with
the Veteran Service Organizations and numerous other entities across Tompkins County.
Dryden American Legion
The post’s Ritual Team ceremony to include a 21-Gun Salute and Taps
Dryden Village Green, intersection of Main and North Streets, Dryden, NY
Groton American Legion Post 800
The post’s Honor Guard conducts annual ceremony and gun salute at 307 Main Street, Groton, NY
- 1700/5p: Groton Legion Post 800 Roast Pork Dinner for Veterans
- The Carrington-Fuller Post 800 will host a complimentary roast pork dinner for area veterans
and one guest each. The dinners will be take-out only. Advance reservations will be required.
Quantities are limited.
- 0900 to 1900/ Cornell University
9a-7p Events sponsored by the Cornell Veterans Colleague Network Group and Cornell’s Student Veterans Program
- 0900: Cornell Chimes Concert of service songs
- 0915: Guided walking tour of Cornell Veteran's Memorials
- starting point west entrance to Barton Hall, Center Door, on Statler Drive
- parking permitted at metered sites (including parking garage by Hoy
Field, next to Bartels Hall, Schoelkopf Field, across street from Dairy
Bar/Stocking Hall)
- https://veteransmemorials.cornell.edu/
- 1030: Continental Breakfast Buffet
- Annabel Taylor Hall
- 1100: Guest Speaker Mark Minton, President of the Cornell Undergraduate
Veterans; “Continuation of Service”
- Annabel Taylor Hall.
- Dusk: Greenlight-A-Vet and Cornell chimes concert
- McGraw Clock Tower will be lit green to raise awareness of veterans and
show appreciation. This will be followed shortly by a brief Chimes Concert
playing the hymns for each U.S. Armed Forces branch of service.
- 1900: Veterans Appreciation Women’s Volleyball Game*
- Cornell v UPenn
- Newman Arena in Bartels Hall
- 1530: Veterans Day Dedication Ceremony
- Dedication of the Military/Veterans Lounge and Vietnam Veterans Memorial plaque
- Ithaca Tompkins International Airport (ITH), 1 Culligan Drive, Ithaca
Ithaca American Legion Veterans Day Chicken BBQ and Concert
Post 221, 1231 Danby Road, Ithaca
- 1500: Chicken BBQ ($12/dinner)
- 1800: Veterans Day Concert featuring Hustle Souls
- 1730: Veterans Day Watchfire
Homeville Museum, CNY Living History Center,
4386 U.S. Route 11, Cortland
Saturday, Nov. 12
- 1300: Veterans Appreciation Football Game*
- Cornell v Dartmouth at Schoellkopf Field
- 1600: Veterans Appreciation Men’s Soccer Game*
- Cornell v Columbia at Berman Field
* For Veterans Appreciation athletic events, free or reduced-price tickets can be requested from
the Cornell Student Veterans Advisor at sva@cornell.edu.
Thursday, Nov. 17
- 1100-1300: Clear Path for Veterans Southern Tier Thanksgiving
- American Legion Post 1645
177 Robinson St., Binghamton
Friday, Nov. 18
- 0800-0930: Korean War Veterans Breakfast
- Blue Dolphin Diner, Apalachin. All veterans are welcome.
- 1645-1930/: The Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) Annual Harvest Fest Dinner
4:45p-7:30p GIAC's free holiday dinner, for pick-up only this year. Pre-orders (with limits) are strongly
recommended at https://forms.gle/wJDMWWovd5fnQKDo8 or by calling 607.272.3622.