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Chicagos Green River Tradition

Unlike any other place in the country or world, Chicago has one of the best traditions
around. Every St. Patricks day, hundreds of people from miles around gathering up along the
Chicago River and on the bridges to watch the magic happen. It is said that the magic dye is like
no other, formed into one color and then changed into a sparkling green. The tradition has lived
long and strong for 60 years making it not only a legacy and how it was created, but how other
cities country wide could not do it, and how Eco safe and patented it is.
Stephen M. Bailey, a first generation Irish American and chairman of at the time a six
year old parade, great friends with the first mayor Richard J. Daley, was the founder of the green
river. Dyeing the river green is not something that the city of Chicago does what so ever. It is
privately done by the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local union #110. The day of St. Patricks
Day when Bailey had seen a plumber who was pouring green dye into the sewage system,
turning the river in a crisp Irish green flow to spot for leaks in the system. In an article by Dan
OLeary from Chicago St. Pats Parade.com, he states A tradition is born. In 1961, Bailey was
approached by a plumber who was wearing some white coveralls, they knew this only because
they had mostly been stained a perfect shade of green he says. He asked how is coveralls got
this way, discovering that the dye used to detect leaks into the river turned green(OLeary 1).
Thats was just one of two miracles found on that miraculous day. The dye that makes all happen
is orange, kind of like when making Tang, its in that form looking just like it! They use a
compound of fluorescence dye that had been used by the military in rescue operations at sea
Dan Lydon of green Chicago river.com. Having the use of dye used by the military, no one
would ever imagine it could turn such a river into a beautiful sight to see. As they experimented
with it, they tried pounds and pounds of the stuff. Starting out with a hundred pounds of it, it was
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too much. The river was green for a week(Lydon 1). The second year, we cut it to fifty. The
river was green for three days he stated. (Lydon 2). By the next year they cut their dosage to
twenty-five pounds, which did the job by making it flow green for a day to a day and a half. This
decade, the dye is made up of forty pounds which is a vegetable- proverbial dye which is
dropped off a small tug boat in the river up towards Michigan Ave. There the propellers are used
as a whipping and mixing blade churning it up.
What makes this city and tradition so great, is that it has been strongly supported for fifty
plus years, but other cities cannot do or handle this. In 1963, the support had arrived especially
but the plumbers union manager who created the idea. After the year and now with city
approval, it had been a fantastic tradition people from around the city and suburbs take joy and
pride in. Every Saturday or close to the day St. Pattys falls on, the Chicago Journeymens
plumber union takes on the tradition with great joy and responsibility. Keeping the secret
formula close to hand, no one has yet to figure out what is in this dye that makes it turn a bright
Irish green. It is as if, this was the krabby patty formula that Mr. Krabs would never give away,
taking it with him to Davey Jones Locker. Being passed down or kept in the union, after high
officials is what would happen. What makes this tradition so great is that other cities proposed
this idea for their rivers, have been shot down. In an article by Eoin Ocarroll, he stated that other
cities like in Broward county, Florida rejected the plans in 2005 to dye Fort Lauderdales new
river(Ocarroll 1). The new river in Fort Lauderdale wont be dyed green for St. Patricks day,
after Broward County environmental regulators rejected a request by party promoters Amy
Sherman, reporter of the Miami Herald. Broward Officials said they were concerned about
protecting the endangered West Indian manatee and preserving the unique environment in south
Florida (Sherman 1). Years later, 2009 officials shot down another proposal with Michigans
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department of Environmental Quality for the Saginaw River stating that because of the lack of
relevance to managing the states water resources and being a necessity rule 323.1097.
Many years after the first dye spilled into the Chicago River, making a new tradition born
to life. Coming just a few years later, people and environmentalist started complaining. In 1966,
Environmentalists accused and ragged on about how the parade and plumbers union, were
polluting and destroying the river. Stomping their feet like little whiney kids, they say that was
oil based and detrimental to all living things in the river. They lobbied that the fluoresceins can
be very toxic, making it a big concern for the rivers fish. Succeeding in 1966, Bailey found that
news out; he chuckled about their argument but also agreeing to find a new source, a new
compounding agent that would not only appease these critics and people of the city, but would
do the traditional job once again. Bailey exaggerated The Chicago River will dye the Illinois,
which will dye the Mississippi, which will dye the Gulf of Mexico, which will send green dye up
the gulf stream across the North Atlantic into the Irish Sea, a sea of green surrounding the land
will appear as a greeting to all Irishmen of the Emerald Isle from the men of Erin in Chicago
land, USA (Lydon 2). By making this statement, he loved St. Patricks Day. He wanted to
celebrate it every day, surrounding the U.S. with green, and by taking away original formulas,
would destroy this master piece not being the same any more. After 1966, a new dye was created
making it Eco- friendly save for the water, fish and environment. Although the dyes formula is
guarded very closely, the parade committee compares it to the Coca- Cola formula, or as I
compare it to, as the krabby Patty formula. The formula has been thoroughly tested by
independent chemists and been proven deemed safe for the environment a parade committee
official describes (OCarroll 2). The dye itself is orange, like when you would open a can of tang
mixture to mix with water. Even though speculations have arouse about this, it magically turns
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into not only a green shade form, but a bright emerald color green. As it has been tested, the new
amount of forty pounds of vegetable dye gets mixed into the water turning it into a marvelous
shade of shamrock green.
To get the bragging rights of one of the most famous and historical landmark traditions in
Chicago is an honor. To celebrate St. Patricks Day with a green river flowing beneath your feet
can be breathe taking. Others may have doubts about the formula that is in place now, thinking it
will ruin that cities water, corrupt the river that flows into Lake Michigan killing all the sea
animals out there. But tested thoroughly enough and even getting the Illinois Department of
Public Health stamping of ok, though tests and examinations, people can rest at ease and watch a
miracle happen before their eyes.
Unlike any other city before Chicago Illinois is one of the greatest cities alive. With the
roaring crowds at Wrigley field, to the outskirts of Lake Michigan, It can no doubtfully be
compared easily. As St. Patricks Day comes to town though the one day of the year that is what
makes Chicago shine above everyone else. The honorable tradition making everyone take pride
what happened over a century ago creating a legacy not too big for not only Chicagoans but for
Immigrants and natives coming all around the world making a new change.








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Works Cited
Chicago St. Pats Parade Parade History Consumer consultant, N.D. Web 22 April 2013
<http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/river-dye.html>.
Huffington post Staff Chicago River Green: St. Patricks Day 2013 Celebrations
Continue Around The Windy City Huffington Post.com Newspaper, 17 March 2013, Web
23 April 2013.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/16/chicago-river-green-st-pa_n_2891531.html>.
Lydon, Dan The man Who Dyed The River Green: Stephen M. Bailey
GreenChicagoRiver.com N.D. Web, 21 April, 2013.
<http://greenchicagoriver.com/story.html>.
Moser, Whet Dyeing the Chicago River Green: Its Origins in the Actual Greening of the
River Chicagomag.com, Newspaper, 16 March 2012, Web 22 April 2013.
<http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/March-2012/Dyeing-
the-Chicago-River-Green-Its-Origins-in-the-Actual-Greening-of-the-River/>.
OCarroll, Eoin Is the dye in the Chicago River really green? Christian Science Monitor.com,
World News media, 16 March 2009, Web 24 April 2013.
<http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2009/0316/is-the-dye-in-the-
chicago-river-really-green>.
OLeary, Dan The Story Behind Dyeing The River ChicagoStPatsParade.Com,
Consumer Consultant, N.D. Web, 21 April 2013.
<http://greenchicagoriver.com/story.html>.
Sherman, Amy No Dice On Dying River for St. Pats, County says. Miami Herald.com
Newspaper 4 February, 2005 Web, 24 April 2013.
<http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8267192_ITM>.