Politics & Government

Wedding Reception/Car Show Coming to Downtown St. Charles

St. Charles aldermen give first nod to Shelby Mustang-themed wedding reception and car show in April.

A local couple plans to tie the knot on April 20, but in terms of their honeymoon, they won’t be Gone in 60 Seconds.

Denna Wells and fiance Judd Nilles are fans of cars like Eleanor, the 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 that Memphis Raines wanted to steal in the 2000 remake of the movie starring Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie.

A friend has offered to throw the couple a car show featuring Shelby Mustangs as a wedding gift, and the engaged couple was before the St. Charles City Council Government Services Committee on Monday requesting approval of a street closure permit and a sound amplification permit for the show by Double-K productions.

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Deputy Police Chief David Kintz presented their request to the aldermen, who ultimately voted to recommend formal City Council approval of their request. While the aldermen wished the couple well, their request did prompt some concerns among the aldermen.

One was related to the sound amplification permit. April 20 is a Saturday, however, and the couple plans to have their wedding about 3 p.m. — about the time setup would begin for the car show, which will be along South Riverside Avenue. The car show, however, is planned to conclude by 8:30 p.m.

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Wells said that the wedding will be held at a church on Cedar Street, followed by a short “parade” of Shelby Mustangs from the church to the site of the car show on Riverside.

Kintz added the parade will be informal — meaning no street closures will be done in conjunction with it, and drivers will be expected to obey all stop signs and street lights between the church and the car show site.

Of greater concern to aldermen were the street closure and whether the street closure was tied to a public event or a private wedding reception.

But Wells and Nilles had done their homework.

They told the council that their reception will be at the , and will be a private affair.

The car show, however, will be a public event that is expected to have more than 100 vehicles involved, and the public is invited. The event, Nilles said, will be no different than the Tuesday night Cruise Nights that were held throughout the summer months in the same area.

Perhaps the greater concern was closing off Riverside Avenue from Route 64 to Illinois Street for the car show. But Wells allayed some of those concerns, noting she had visited personally with neighboring businesses in the area of Riverside Avenue and been reassured by them that the street closure would be all right with them.

There remains some concern about the street closure — some aldermen indicated the street closure might work better on Walnut Street — and that likely will be discussed again when the City Council convenes to formally consider the issue.

Still, the event won the support of 5th Ward Alderwoman Maureen Lewis — who applauded the couple’s selection of the April 20 wedding date. That’s the same day she and her husband will celebrate their 45th anniversary.

For 4th Ward Alderwoman Jo Krieger, however, there was a greater issue. She voted against the matter, saying people have been complaining about the number of downtown street closures.

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