As many of you Chicagoans know, today is the St Patty’s Day celebration which includes the annual Chicago River Dyeing. This has been occurring in Chicago for the past 43 years and is soley contributed to the efforts of Steve Bailey. Steve Bailey was the Business Manager of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union #110 and chairman of the St Patrick’s Day loop parade from 1958 until his death November 15, 1966. This all came about when a local plumber had come in to see Bailey wtih his white overalls dyed green from trying to find a leak into the river. After many trials of how much dye to use and concern from enviornmentalists on the type of dye that is used, 40lbs of a vegetable-based dye is currently used to dye the Chicago River a perfect shade of Irish Green for a day. If you haven’t seen this spectacular site, I highly recommend it. This year the river dyeing will happen at 10am. This picture was taken last year after the river had been dyed Irish Green. Note: On a sunny March day the river seems to glow with Irish Green… For information about the 2011 St Patrick’s Day Celebration, click here.

For the full story behind the dyeing of the Chicago River, click here.