Orangetown Highway Department Preps the Route

The streets of Pearl River will be busy Sunday, and that begins hours before the St. Patrick's Day Parade starts at 1:30 p.m.

The preparations begin early in the morning and much of it can't be done until that day. In addition to the event sponsors, the Rockland County AOH, town organzations such as the police and highway departments play a large role in putting on the parade.

The Orangetown Highway Department will be putting up 5,000 feet of barricades throughout Pearl River, as well as painting the green line that marks the parade's route at 6 a.m., weather permitting.

"All that stuff you don’t see, but it helps make everything work," Orangetown Highway Supervisor James Dean. "That day, we have three shifts working. The early shift sets up. We have a skeleton crew in the middle of day in case anything as parade goes. Then there is the clean-up shift that will empty trash barrels, sweep streets and pick up the barricades.

"Normally, we have nobody going on Sundays, but it's a celebation."

The barricades are checked and loaded earlier, but because they cannot be left out overnight, so they are put up Sunday morning.

The Orangetown Highway Department also began putting out recycling bins in recent years.

"We have shamrocks hangign over them with an arrow pointing to it," Dean said. "Last year, we got six bags full (of materials that can be recycled). Last year, it was 18 bags. It's getting better. We try to promote that."

Dean said he hoped to find some organziation willing to sort through the bags for bottles with deposits on them. He asked that anybody interested contact the Highway Department at (845) 359-5100, extension 2237.

"I hate to see that go to waste," Dean said.