‘In St. Charles’ Proposed as City’s Official Song

Chicago is Frank Sinatra’s kind of town, although he also wanted to “be a part of it, New York, New York.” Then there is Tony Bennett, who left his heart in San Francisco.

Now, according to 5th Ward Alderwoman Maureen Lewis, St. Charles can have its own song as well — one extolling the virtues of the city known as the “Pride of the Fox.”

Lewis pitched the song, “In St. Charles,” to the City Council Government Operations Committee as a candidate for the city’s official song, gushing with praise for its friendly, easy-going melody and lyrics that praise the virtues of living in a city where “the grass grows greener” and riverside strolls are a welcome part of daily life in the community.

Monday night’s performance of the song by Jeff and David Hunt was the second public performance of the song, Lewis told her fellow aldermen.

Masters was born in St. Charles in 1954, and started playing trombone at age 6. "Inspired by his uncle, a Dixieland trumpeter, and Herb Albert’s Tijuana Brass band, 13-year-old Jim started a Dixieland Tijuana Brass cover band with some friends from church. The band, called Brass Leaf, played on a riverboat in Saint Charles," Lewis told aldermen.

Masters moved away from St. Charles as a high school senior but never forgot his hometown or his love for it. Masters, Lewis said, is “a very talented man who loves St. Charles and wrote this song for us.”

The song was first performed publicly at a class reunion Lewis attended. Resident Bill Russell also was at that reunion.

Russell urged the council to adopt the song as the city’s official song, saying the city could set it up on its website, use it to serenade callers to City Hall who are placed on hold, as well as other uses to tout the city’s reputation. The song also ought to be sung during the city’s annual Holiday Homecoming event next month, Russell told aldermen.

Aldermen agreed to recommend adoption of “In St. Charles” as the city’s official song. The City Council is expected to formalize that action during its next formal meeting.

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