J’Kella Smith said you can’t go wrong with an event about smiles.

“It’s great motivation,” said Smith, a Union College student, while standing with about 40 other students and faculty members on State Street. “Everyone is happy together. It’s such a happy event.”

About 1,000 people lined up along State Street Wednesday morning from MVP Health Care to Schenectady County Community College on Washington Avenue — that’s 1.5 miles.

Smith and her classmate, Sonia Sandoval, wore garnet Union College T-shirts and held signs with smiley faces. The event, hosted by Buzz Media Solutions, was meant to promote the positive things happening in the city.

The goal was to have local residents and employees show off their pride for Schenectady by wearing T-shirts with smiley faces, holding signs with smiley faces and showing off their own personal smiling faces.    “Who has the best smile?” Mayor Gary McCarthy asked the crowd during a news conference in front of MVP before kicking off the event. “Union College or MVP?”

Nearly 100 MVP employees standing outside cheered and waved their hands in the air. Then dozens of Union College students and staff screamed and held up their yellow smiley faces on sticks.

“I think Newsie,” McCarthy said laughing, motioning to the Daily Gazette mascot standing in the crowd.

“What’s more beautiful than people smiling?” Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, DRotterdam, said. “My dentist always says a good smile is a gift to the world. I wish every day was like today.”

Jeff Goronkin of Buzz Media took a selfie after the news conference before hopping on the “Smile-Cade” with local officials. The Smile-Cade traveled down State Street, taking photos and videos of all the smiles.

“I’m taking out my phone and putting it in selfi e mode,” Goronkin warned the people behind him, including McCarthy and Santabarbara.

McCarthy, turning to Santabarbara, joked “Have you ever done that before, Angelo?”

The Miles of Smiles event supported Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County. McCarthy gave Habitat a $10 bill to start the donations. MVP later presented Habitat with a $1,000 check.

“I could not be more thrilled to be here today,” said Madelyn Thorne, Habitat’s interim executive director. “Funding drives everything that we do, and the support is so important to us.”

The north side of State Street to SCCC was lined with people representing businesses, including The Costumer, Puzzles Bakery & Café and Transfi nder, along with local organizations, such as the Capital Region Chamber, the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. and Habitat for Humanity.

People also held large signs representing neighborhoods in the city such as Bellevue, Central and Eastern avenues, Goose Hill, Hamilton Hill, Mont Pleasant and Woodlawn.

“It’s a sign of representation of community,” city Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo said. “It makes me so choked up. It’s very emotional.”

As cars drove down State Street they honked their horns, and people screamed and waved their smiley faces in response.

“We wanted to participate because it’s a happy event,” said Sara Mae Hickey of Puzzles Bakery & Café.

Hickey was joined by a handful of Puzzles employees standing outside the cafe. They held yellow, orange and green smiley faces on sticks as the Smile-Cade drove by.

“It’s really cute, with a lot of people,” Hickey said.

Employees from The Costumer stood with a banner on State Street. They dressed in various costumes, including a bear, a dog and a pirate.

“Where there are smiles, we’re there,” said Tammy Vankuren. “Our business is all about smiles.”

About 60 people from Eddy Senior Care sat in their wheelchairs in front of Johnny’s. They had yellow smiley-face balloons tied to their chairs, and some older people had their faces painted with smiles.

“We’ve been here for 19 years,” said Sherri Wolken, director of operations. “They love being involved in community events. They even painted their faces!”

The event in Schenectady on Wednesday marked the first mile in the Miles of Smiles, a global initiative to spread smiles around the world. Buzz Media is planning to challenge other communities to smile, too.

To see more photos and video from the event, visit Face  book.com/SchenectadySmiles   or @SmileonState on Twitter. People were also encouraged to post photos and videos on social media using the hashtag #MilesofSmiles.

PATRICK DODSON/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER 

Left: Employees of Puzzles Bakery & Cafe take part in Wednesday’s Miles of Smiles event along State Street in downtown Schenectady. Right: A woman shows off her “smile.” 

PATRICK DODSON/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER 

People line State Street for the first ever Miles of Smiles event in downtown Schenectady on Wednesday. The event asked locals to line the street and show off their smiles in an effort to showcase positives in the community. See a photo gallery and video at dailygazette.com  . 

A boy and his thumbs-up salute are framed along the route.