Other than what to wear and when to show up, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said he knew almost nothing else ahead of time about a reception planned by the City of Carmel to celebrate his nearly 30 years of leadership.

At the event, held Aug. 17 at Ritz Charles, hundreds of guests stopped by to mingle and share thoughts and memories with Brainard. Attendees ranged from members of the team that helped him transition into elected office in 1996 to current city employees and partners.

“It brought back a lot of memories for me,” Brainard said Aug. 18. “What’s happened in Carmel hasn’t happened because of me or my administration. It’s happened because lots and lots of people decided they wanted to build a special place.”

A few guests spoke during a short presentation, which included the mayor receiving a unique gift created by Bloomington musician and composer Monika Herzig.

Nancy Heck, Carmel’s director of community relations and economic development, asked Herzig to compose a jazz song for Brainard after learning Herzig can use special dates to write a melody. Herzig assigns ascending numbers to notes in a scale and uses the numbers in the dates to pick out a melody.

For Brainard, she used his birthdate, June 8, 1954, and his first day in office, Jan. 1, 1996, for the foundation of the song and improvised the rest of it. At the reception, she debuted the recording that played with a video highlighting Carmel.

“It became this piece where we had four horns with it,” Herzig said. “So, (it was) quite elaborate.”

Brainard – a jazz fan – said he was surprised by the composition, which he called “really fun to hear.” He received sheet music for the piece at the reception and said he looks forward to attempting to play it himself.

The mayor, who is not running for reelection and will step down from office at the end of the year, said he wanted to thank anyone who has helped make Carmel “one of the nicest places anywhere in the United States,” whether they were at the reception or not.

“Having the opportunity to lead that effort has been the honor of a lifetime,” he said. “I hope our children and grandchildren look back and appreciate what this group of people have done.”