This program gives young musicians a training ground as well as an opportunity to be musical ambassadors for the city of Syracuse. The big band, composed of 17 high school-age musicians, annually plays more than 60 performances of swing, jazz and patriotic music.

Daily. Erie Canal Cruises. Enjoy a 90-minute cruise on the historic Erie Canal, including traveling through a 100-year-old lock. Cruises leave at 1 and 3 p.m.; reservations suggested. 800 Mohawk St.

June 11. Phoenix Flag Day Celebration and Bake Sale. Boat tours available through Seaway Navigation. Sponsored by Bridge House Brats, State Street. Free; fee for boat tour. 695-1308, 934-4157 (boat

June 17-19. Great New York State Food and Wine Festival. Event celebrates Made in New York foods like candy, cheeses, sauces, herbs, maple syrup and wine from New York vineyards. Recreation Park Are

June.11. Blackfly Challenge. Forty-mile non-technical mountain/cyclocross bike race through the Moose River Plains (Indian Lake to Inlet). www.blackflychallenge.wordpress.com. June 17. Wilmington/W

If the Save the Rain program mandated for Onondaga County seems like a drop in the bucket, that’s because part of it is. . .literally.

“Gimme Some Space” starts with a flow that would make Snoop Dogg proud, but then bursts into a Rage Against The Machine-like jam. “Intimate Affair” is a soulful take in the P-Funk style, while “Lyrical Guide” features Jack Brown at the top of his game, with a flow expertly culled from his spoken-word background.

The new show at The Redhouse’s Joan Lukas Rothenberg Gallery,.

While college graduates are scrambling for lackluster desk jobs or settling for internships, one from Syracuse University has landed the job of his dreams. Days after earning a master’s in media studies from the S.I.