Dozens of chairs are beginning to line Brownsville Road in Brentwood ahead of the borough's annual Fourth of July parade.

It's a tradition that has taken place for over 100 years, along with the annual 5K, which is now celebrating its 42nd year.

"It's the Pittsburgh parking chair but on the sidewalk instead of the street," said William Andrews, a Brentwood resident.

Andrews has 14 chairs set up outside his home, along with a tent and tables.

"My mother's coming up from North Carolina, she graduated from Brentwood, and so it's a tradition for them too. So, they're coming up to still enjoy the parade 600 miles away," Andrews said.

Many residents could be seen setting up their chairs and marking their spots on Wednesday but according to the borough, the first chair sightings were seen last Friday.

"It started to fill up and I got the order from my wife that we need to mark it," said Brentwood native Mike Deasy.

Deasy lives right along Brownsville Road and said while he marks his spot, he waits until the day of to put actual chairs in place.

"Well, I don't want to put nice chairs out, so I put buckets out and mark my space here. And, yeah, this is everybody else's stuff, so you have to do it early, otherwise people are just gonna take it from you," Deasy said.

KDKA-TV saw buckets, cones, blankets and your typical fold-out chair lined down the street with nearly all the chairs tied to a street post or object to keep anyone from moving them.

"My heart starts to palpitate when I drive by thinking I may not get our spot and what are we going to do if we don't," said resident Julie Betz.

Betz said the tradition to place chairs on the street has gone back for generations in her family.

"My mom also was born and raised in Brentwood, and she lived right on Brownsville Road and her mom used to have to come out real early in the morning in front of her own house to put her chairs up for all of her grandchildren and children to enjoy the parade," Betz said. "And when I started to have my own children and my own family, we just carried on those traditions."

The borough said they anticipate 35,000 to 40,000 people to attend the Fourth of July parade and said for local families, more people come home to attend this event than any other holiday event.

"It sets your sense of community here in Brentwood, you see people that you have grown up with, that you may have not seen for, you know, five or 10 years, but you can always count on people walking by along the streets of Brownsville and it's that sense of community where everybody in Brentwood shows up," Betz said.

"It's a big event for me. I'm a veteran of the Air Force, the Gulf War, and it means a lot to me to appreciate my country and what they do for me and the people around me," Andrews said.

Andrews is also a retired city firefighter and said he loves seeing how much the community gets involved.

"It's just a fun event to bring family and friends together and just have a great day. It looks like it's going to be a great day for it too," Andrews said.

He said he plans to grill out after the parade and plans to give out awards for the most patriotic outfit of the day.

As for setting up chairs days ahead of the event, the borough said there is no ordinance in place saying you can't do that. Residents told KDKA-TV that while they tie their chairs down, it's more so to protect them from blowing away in the wind, rather than someone stealing them.

"I've never seen it, and I'm also shocked that, like, no one comes by in a U-Haul and just takes all the chairs away. It hasn't happened yet," Deasy said.

"Last year I brought up bags of rocks to put at the bottom of the chairs to hold them down and I was in such a rush this year I didn't do that," Betz said.

The 5K run kicks off at 9 a.m. on Friday followed by the parade at 10 a.m.

The borough said Brownsville Road will be closed from Sankey Avenue to Route 51 until approximately 12:30.