A sampling of Veterans Day events around the Twin Cities metro area

Bloomington: Noon-6 p.m., Mall of America rotunda. Chef Challenge pairing military personnel with chefs from Mall of America restaurants. Competition will send the winning cooking duo home with a prize package worth over $1,500. Each cooking duo must incorporate a military staple — MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) — in their dish. Both active and veteran military personnel will participate.

Inver Grove Heights: 10 a.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center. Official state of Minnesota Veterans Day program, focused on the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. This year's program will conclude with the nationwide tolling of the bell at 11 a.m. Keynote address by Nancy O'Brien Wagner, author of "Alice in France: The World War I Letters of Alice M. O'Brien." On display will be the Minnesota Military Museum's World War I mural depicting 100 notable individuals from the era, as well as artifacts from WWI. A free community breakfast will be served from 8:30- 9:30 a.m., before the start of the program at 10 a.m.

Minneapolis/Robbinsdale: 10 a.m., Flagpole Plaza at Victory Memorial Drive and 45th Avenue N. Program with speakers, musician Robert Robinson, a 21-gun salute and a moment of silence at 11 a.m. Sponsored by Hennepin County, the cities of Minneapolis and Robbinsdale and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Trees and monuments along Victory Memorial Drive honor the 568 Hennepin County servicemen and women who died in World War I. Dedicated to fallen soldiers in 1921 and rededicated in 2011, the drive is located in the northwest area of Minneapolis and the eastern border of Robbinsdale.

Minneapolis: Noon, downtown Minneapolis. Bell concert from City Hall to honor veterans and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Nancy Laskaris will play patriotic songs and others popular during the WWI era. A hundred years ago, when news of the Armistice reached Minneapolis after the streetcars had stopped running for the night, chimes player Hank Auld biked downtown from his North Side home and climbed the stairs to the City Hall belfry to play songs through the night to alert citizens that peace had arrived.

Minneapolis: 11 a.m., plaza of Northrop Memorial Auditorium at the University of Minnesota. Bells of Peace ceremony by the Oratorio Society of Minnesota. The names of each Minnesota soldier killed in action will be read as part of the remembrance ceremony, which will run through approximately 3:30 p.m. At 4 p.m., there will be an Armistice Centennial concert in Northrop; for more details, go to northrop.umn.edu.

Minneapolis: 2 p.m., Minneapolis Veterans Home, B19 Community Room. Program with keynote speaker Col. Ryan Zipf, Army Reserve.

Minneapolis: 5 p.m., Brit's Pub, 1100 Nicollet Mall. Program with emphasis on international veterans. Live music, a color guard and words honoring global veterans. Sponsored by Brit's Pub, the Alliance Française, Italian Cultural Center, Lutheran Social Service, Veterans for Peace and University of Minnesota NROTC.

St. Paul: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Landmark Center, 75 5th St. W. "A Day of Peace" program with music, storytelling and bell-ringing at 11 a.m. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace, World Storytelling Day and the Landmark Center.

Stillwater: 11 a.m., American Legion Post, 103 S. 3rd St. Program with welcome by Cmdr. Craig Fritsche at 10:50 a.m., "The History of Armistice Day" by past American Legion Cmdr. John Rheinberger at 10:52 a.m. and military honors with Captain of the Honor Guard Jim Wright at 10:58 a.m.

Stillwater: 11 a.m., Veterans Memorial, corner of 3rd and Pine streets downtown. 11 a.m. salute to veterans, 11:30 a.m. performance by Stillwater Area High School band. Keynote address by Thomas Frenette, Washington County assistant county attorney.