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Many Will Be Dressed In Green To Celebrate St. Patrick's Day At Parade

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Many people will be seeing a lot of green in Charm City this weekend. Baltimore's annual St. Patrick's Day parade steps off on Sunday.

Ron Matz reports preparations for the parade began a year ago.

It's Baltimore's wearin' of the green, one of the city's oldest and finest traditions.

"We have about 25 hard-working volunteers to put it all together. We step off on Centre Street at 2 p.m. We proceed south on Charles all the way down to Pratt and left on Pratt to Market Place," said Art Casserly, parade chairman.

It snowed 12 years ago, but thousands still lined the streets. It's Charm City's tribute to the emerald isle and the kids love it.

"It's the oldest running and longest big parade left in Baltimore. We've been doing this for 56 years, thanks to a lot of hard-working volunteers and committee chairs. We work all year-long to put this on," said Casserly. "It's a celebration of the Irish culture and the Irish community in Baltimore and the history of the Irish community in Baltimore. I think that's pretty much the theme every year."

Before the parade it's the Shamrock 5K. Army Specialist Jordan Turner will be easy to find. He's served in Iraq and will soon head to Afghanistan.

"I'm running in the Shamrock 5K this Sunday. I'll be wearing this green morph suit. I have an orange clown wig to go with it. I should be pretty easy to spot. The 5K here is always a blast," said Turner. "I've been in the Army almost six years. I served a 15-month tour in Iraq from August '07 to October '08. I'm currently stationed in Alaska and we're getting ready to leave for Afghanistan in the next few months and we'll see what that holds for me."

Baltimore's St. Patrick's Day parade is one of the biggest in the country and will last two and a half hours.

"The formation area is within three blocks of the Washington Monument. About 11 or 12 o'clock Sunday it will be filled with bands, pipers, floats, antique cars, marching units from the Irish community, high schools, colleges, military units, the police and fire departments. It will be a bustle of activity," said Casserly.

The St. Patrick's Day parade begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at Charles and Centre Streets.

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