‘Jacksonville Night’ a labor of love for Shelley Singleton - Jacksonville Journal-Courier

The tickets have arrived, the fans are ready, and organizer Shelley Singleton can’t wait.

The fifth Jacksonville Night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis is set for Thursday, July 22. The Cardinals will play the Cubs at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $40 each for all seats ($42 when paying by credit or debit card).

For Singleton, Jacksonville Night has been a labor of love. She’s organized all five of them. “I used to participate when I was younger, and it was such a thrill, because I had never been to the stadium before, and I got to go on Jacksonville Night,” she said.

That first night, Singleton was able to walk out onto the field. She even met some of the players. “It was just too much — I mean, as a young girl … I was an avid baseball fan, and it was just a real thrill,” she said. “So I wanted to bring that back for a lot of other families, to enjoy that. And I think, too, I think it’s a point of civic pride. We all go down there — and regardless of your age, regardless of your political views or whatever, we go down as a Jacksonville family. All of us do. And it’s just so much fun seeing everybody have such a great time.”

This year funds raised from ticket sales will go to the Jacksonville Tree Project, a city-wide beautification program started by Singleton’s brother, Mike Flynn. “There really wasn’t a program to replace all these trees that we lose, whether it’s an ice storm or whatever it might be,” Singleton said.

Working with the city and homeowners, the Tree Project has been responsible for planting around 150 trees in Jacksonville (you can see a map online at jaxtrees.org). Flynn personally goes out and makes sure the trees get watered.

“Both of us moved back here about 10 years ago,” Singleton said. “We’re from this area, but we’ve lived in other places — Dallas and Phoenix, etc. And we came back home and we just really wanted to make a difference in our community.”

For Singleton, that meant bringing back Jacksonville Night, something that was popular in the 1970s but had long been forgotten.

“When I came back,” she said, “I inquired about it, and I talked to (Mayor) Andy Ezard — you know, he’s a big Cardinal fan — and I said, what do you think, Andy? Do you want to do this? And he said, yeah, what do I need to do?”

There was no Jacksonville Night last year because of COVID-19. Singleton said many people asked her whether the tradition would continue this year. She wasn’t about to let it fade away again. Out of an abundance of caution, no buses will be provided this year, although individual groups can arrange their own transportation to St. Louis.

Seats are located in the lower right field box seat sections (128-131). Tickets are available at Prairie State Bank on Morton Avenue and online at https://ift.tt/35u6786.

The Jacksonville High School choir will sing “God Bless America” before the game in front of the Jacksonville Night section. Local philanthropist Scotty DeWolf will throw out the first pitch.

Singleton has 750 tickets, and hopes to sell that many, and more. For fans who have relatives in Iowa or Missouri or wherever, Singleton said she can get tickets to them so families can get together in St. Louis for the game.

The main thing is for Jacksonville to get together.

“It’s a real community event, and I want everybody to come out and have a great time,” Singleton said. “I just think it’s going to be a blast.”

— — —

Fredbird coming to Jacksonville this Saturday

In conjunction with Jacksonville Night, Fredbird, the official mascot of the St. Louis Cardinals, is coming to Jacksonville this Saturday, June 19.

Fredbird will be at the Ferris Wheel in Community Park at 1 p.m. Saturday. The visit is sponsored by Prairie State Bank. Fans can have their photo taken with Fredbird for a $5 donation to the Jacksonville Tree Project. Rotary Club of Jacksonville will provide free Ferris Wheel rides from 1-3 p.m.

Singleton said it’s unusual for Fredbird to wing this far north. She brought the Cardinals’ mascot to The JHS Bowl several years ago.

“The kids just had a ball,” she said. “We had tons of kids there, and they just had a great time. They got their pictures taken and all that, and he was dancin’, and the kids just thought that was a real hoot. That was a lot of fun.”

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‘Jacksonville Night’ a labor of love for Shelley Singleton - Jacksonville Journal-Courier
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