On Sunday, June 29, 2014, we celebrated the 130th birthday of the Martin Mitchell Mansion here at Naper Settlement. During the summer of 1884, George Martin, a successful Naperville businessman, and his wife, Sibelia, moved into their new two-story, 12-room brick residence, along with three of their adult children.

“Today, the Mansion continues to be the crown jewel of Naper Settlement and looks better than ever,” Director of Learning Experiences Nancy Smith said. “We invited the community to share in the celebration of this grand Victorian home’s birthday party.”

The day also kicked off the yearlong “Pass the Plate” journey of a special commemorative dish that will be filled and passed throughout the community. The first recipient of the plate was Stephanie Penick, longtime Naperville resident, publisher of Positively Naperville, “scratch” baker,” former cake shop owner, creative cake book author, and previous public relations manager for Naper Settlement. She  received the plate filled with cupcakes from DeEtta’s Bakery. The plate recipients will share their recipes; with whom they are sharing the plate; and what special occasion is being celebrated.

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The Journey of the Martin Mitchell Mansion Commemorative Plate    

Passing the Plate to...		Recipe!	Occasion	Date
	Erin O’Donnell	Cupcakes	In February, the folks at DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan and Johnson, prepared for tax season, passed the plate for its 15th presentation. The accounting firm gave the large platter along with home-baked cupcakes to Naperville resident Erin O’Donnell in recognition of her community service, volunteerism and stand-up comedy routine that recently took center stage at the Comedy Shrine.	2/16/15
	DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan and Johnson	Blond Brownies	With much appreciation to the accounting firm that’s been associated with NEF since its inception in 1992, Vaughn explained the journey of the Friendship Plate that arrrived with delicious blonde brownies baked by Alissa Johnson-Tripas on its 14th stop. During the visit, Tom Jordan, one of the founding members of DiGiovine Hnilo Jordan, Johnson Ltd.,  in 1974, reminisced about his multifaceted accounting and business advisory firm that’s served the community for 40 years.	1/21/15
	Naperville Education Foundation	Sweet Snack Mix	Keystone Business Services wishes to thank the Naperville Education Foundation for all their innovative and creative programs that enrich the lives of ALL students in District 203.	12/11/14
	Eric Jozwiak, Jessica Mock and Bruce Weaver of Keystone Business Services	Crackle Brownies	Heidi Stone, Family Room Manager, at the Ronald McDonald Family Room in Edward Hospital presented the plate filed with Crackle Brownies baked by an “amazing volunteer,” Kim Depoister of McDonald’s Corporation, to Jozwiak, president of KBS. Stone noted that since last July, KBS has provided the Thursday evening meal once a month for RMFR. In addition, the company that focuses on cloud computing solutions has created a “streamlined” online registration process that will benefit all families who come to stay in the family room.	11/12/14
	Katie Allabough, Director of the Ronald McDonald Family Room	Lasagna	Celeste Wagner, owner of Aurelio’s Pizza wanted to celebrate and raise awareness for the Ronald McDonald Family Room in Edward Hospital, a place where families can rest, regroup and experience a positive environment, while staying close to their critically ill child. Celeste arrived with an enormous pan of baked lasagna and passed the commemorative plate to Jessica Jozwiak, Chairwoman of the House Council, and Katie Allabough, Director of the Ronald McDonald Family Room.	10/28/14
	Celeste Wagner of Aurelio's Pizza	Greek Walnut Cake	The plate was presented to Celeste for her wonderful support of BMO Harris Bank and many other agencies and businesses within our community.	10/17/14
	Marilyn Krueger of the Naperville Garden Club		Marilyn Krueger, longtime member of the Naperville Garden Club, requested to use the commemorative plate to display along with scrumptious little cookies at Cup of Cheer™ Holiday Market and Tea as a way to help promote the 150th birthday of the Martin Mitchell Mansion. Krueger recalled the time several years ago when the Naperville Garden Club decorated the grand historic mansion as part of the house walk.	10/9/14
	Melissa Garcia of BMO Harris	Toll House  Cookies	Naperville CARES Executive Director Janet Derrick and Angela Bender passed the plate overflowing with toll house cookies baked by Suzanne Hogarty to friends at BMO Harris Bank, celebrating the bank’s support of the community.	10/3/14
	Janet Derrick of Naperville CARES	Quinoa & Black Bean Salad	A regular volunteer at Naperville CARES on Tuesday afternoons, Vicky Joseph decided it would be an honor to give the plate to Naperville CARES Executive Director Janet Derrick. Joseph noted that she’d selected Naperville CARES as another way to celebrate the nonprofit organization during its 15th anniversary year.	9/23/14
	Vicky Joseph, founder of Families Helping Families	Grandma's Best Brownies	With the plate filled with “Grandma’s Best Brownies,” baked to perfection by Laura Brown, Mark Brown presented the tasty treats to Vicky Joseph, founder of Families Helping Families, one of the charitable causes his company, a group of financial planners and investment advisors, supports. This year Families Helping Families is celebrating its 20th anniversary of providing assistance to homeless families so they can become self-sufficient.	9/20/14
	Mark Brown of M. Brown Associates	Chocolate Coconut Nuggets	Sherry Healey, who leads a group called Community Access Naperville (CAN), selected Mark Brown to be the sixth recipient of the Friendship Plate, celebrating the third year that his company, M. Brown & Associates, had sponsored the summer CAN Camp.	8/16/14
	Community Access Naperville (C.A.N.)	Zucchini Chocolate Cake	On behalf of the Naperville Municipal Band, arrangements were made to pass the Martin-Mitchell Mansion commemorate plate on the final day of the five-day C.A.N. Camp. The sun shined brightly at the corner of Benton and Center streets while campers, ages 16-25, welcomed Director of the Naperville Municipal Band Ron Keller to share the delicious home-baked treats in good friendship. Vicki noted the zucchini came from Ron’s garden.	8/8/14
	Ron and Vicky Keller from the Naperville Municipal Band	Sour Cream Cherry Bars	Lee Lindberg, a member of the Kendall Cooks, prepared his tasty Sour Cream Cherry Bars in order to pass the Friendship Plate to the Naperville Municipal Band at the Thursday evening concert. Thanks to announcer Ann Lord for introducing the Commander of the American Legion Post 43 after the first march. Lindberg, in turn, took the stage with some historical facts, read the “Friendship” poem, and presented the commemorative Martin Mitchell Mansion plate to Vicki Keller, a member of the band, and Ron Keller, its conductor for 49 years. The musical couple were instructed to share a few bars with the entire band after the concert.	7/31/14
	Kendall Cooks	Zucchini Bread	As the story goes, on Sun., July 27, Last Fling Chairman Pedigo arranged for Frank E. Fling to present a large loaf of homemade zucchini bread to the Kendall Cooks—Wayne Fischer, Charles Vladika, Terry Jelinek, Lee Lindberg, Ken Garhan and Mike Rechenmacher—outside the Judd Kendall VFW Post. Throughout the year, the world-renown group of veterans from the Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873 and the American Legion Post 43 prepares and serves sumptuous banquets during social events at the post. When contacted about the Friendship Plate, they relished the idea to receive it and agreed to a photo opportunity with Frank.	7/27/14
	Frank E. Fling	College-Style Pigs in a Blanket	The Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex, where the DuPage County Hounds were playing the Northwest Indiana Oilmen—and Naperville’s Frank E. Fling was making a guest appearance.	7/13/14
	Stephanie Penick	Special cupcakes from DeEtta's Bakery	Kickoff of the "Pass the Plate" at the Martin Mitchell Mansion Birthday Party	6/29/14