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Keep up with the past and the pass of the MMM Friendship Plate

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UPDATE, March 15, 2015 / Pizza! Pizza and the Friendship Plate!

Erin O’Donnell continued to pass the Martin Mitchell Mansion Friendship Plate on its city-wide journey last weekend when Adam Parks and his family sat down for “Pizza with the Mayor at Lou Malnati’s” in downtown Naperville.  Parks bought Pizza with the Mayor at the 2014 Little Friends Auction.

“While he was there (at Lou Malnati’s), we took the opportunity to ask the Mayor to pass the friendship plate onto Adam,” said O’Donnell.

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Erin O’Donnell receives some assistance from Mayor George Pradel when it was her turn to pass the Martin Mitchell Mansion Friendship Plate to Adam Parks.

O’Donnell, who had received the plate in February from the folks at DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan and Johnson chose Park “because aside from being a terrific Financial Advisor with First Command Financial, he dedicates, his time, money and talent to helping numerous causes around Naperville. For the last seven years, he has produced a Feel Good Fundraiser raising over $100,000 for the charity, Blessings in a BackPack.”

Parks sits as a board member on Naperville Chamber of Commerce as well as ISupport Community.  He also is a member of the Exchange Club of Naperville where he volunteers for Ribfest. He also helps with Little Friends, she said.

“For all of these reasons, I chose to give the plate to Adam,” O’Donnell said.

Photo courtesy Erin O’Donnell

UPDATE, Feb. 16, 2015Follow, follow, follow the Friendship Plate!

Since June 29, 2014, the Martin Mitchell Mansion Friendship Plate has been on a city-wide tour to spread camaraderie and tasty treats in celebration of the 130th anniversary of the historic residence, the centerpiece of Naper Settlement, Chicagoland’s outdoor history museum.

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.

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Erin O’Donnell recently was feted with cupcakes from DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan & Johnson, the 15th recipient of the Martin Mitchell Mansion Friendship Plate.

Follow the travels of the commemorative friendship plate, complete with its collection of recipes, as the platter makes the rounds to celebrate different individuals and enterprises that continually contribute to this generous community.  Find stories by searching “pass the plate” at www.positivelynaperville and www.napersettlement.org.

Where will funny girl O’Donnell pass it next?

Posted Jan. 22, 2015 / The “Pass the Friendship Plate” journey began on June 29, 2014, to commemorate the 130th birthday year of the Martin-Mitchell Mansion, a splendorous Victorian home located at Naper Settlement, Chicagoland’s outdoor history museum in Naperville. Recently, the large oval platter made its 14th stop to the offices of DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan and Johnson, an accounting firm up along the Corporate Corridor on Naperville’s north side.

In keeping with the mission at Naper Settlement to connect visitors to Naperville’s history through engaging, unique experiences, the travels of the MMM Friendship Plate are chronicled in this story.

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When appreciative folks from the Naperville Education Foundation passed the MMM Friendship Plate to DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan & Johnson on January 21, 2015, the special event marked the 14th stop on the yearlong journey to celebrate local heritage.

As interpreted 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. In 1895, daughter Caroline Martin married Edward Grant Mitchell, and, as the only child to marry, the home then known as “Pine Craig” took on the name, Martin-Mitchell Mansion.

The historic building continues to be the crown jewel of Naper Settlement and looks better than ever as it’s interpreted for all seasons, especially during the holidays. This anniversary year, organizers of the Pass the Friendship Plate initiative have invited “the community to share in the celebration of this grand Victorian home’s birthday party.”

To celebrate for a year, the travels of the Friendship Plate—a large platter with a design by Cheri Tompkins that depicts the special occasion —are being tracked and documented with photos and recipes on the Naper Settlement website at www.napersettlement.org.

And the friendly folks at Naper Settlement remain optimistic that the recipient will fill the plate with a different tasty treat as it travels around town until July 1, 2015.

Journey of Martin Mitchell Mansion Friendship Plate continues in 2015

The journey began with a presentation to Stephanie Penick, Publisher of Positively Naperville. Next, the platter went to the Jaycees’ mascot Frank E. Fling, with gratitude to the Naperville Jaycees for their 49th annual family-friendly four-day festival over Labor Day Weekend.  Note that the Jaycees Last Fling will celebrate its first 50 years on Sept. 4-7, 2015.

What’s followed have been presentations to the Kendall Cooks at the Judd Kendall VFW (third), the Naperville Municipal Band in Central Park (fourth), Community Access Naperville (fifth), M. Brown & Associates, Ltd. (sixth), Families Helping Family (seventh), Naperville CARES (eighth), BMO Harris Bank (ninth), Aurelio’s Pizza (10th), Ronald McDonald Room at Edward (11th), Keystone Business Services (12th) and Naperville Education Foundation (NEF) (Lucky 13th).

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Dennise Vaughn prepares to pass the friendship plate to Tom Jordan.

Then on Jan. 21, Dennise Vaughn, Chairman of the Naperville Education Foundation Board of Trustees, along with Ann Spehar, Executive Director of NEF, delivered the Martin Mitchell Mansion friendship plate to DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan and Johnson.  With much appreciation to the certified public 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.

“Carmine DiGiovine was one of the founding members of NEF in 1992,” Jordan said. “Someone from our firm—Carmine, then I, John Miller and now Colin Shaw— has always been the treasurer.”

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Colin Shaw, Dennise Vaughn, Tom Jordan, Ann Spehar, John Miller and Spencer Luecke gathered recently to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the historic Martin Mitchell Mansion, the centerpiece at Naper Settlement.

Going forward, the folks at DiGiovine, Hnilo, Jordan and Johnson now have the task of passing the plate to someone else—could be family, friend, neighbor, business or anyone in Naperville—within 15 days, filled with a special baked treat or favorite recipe, to keep friendship traveling throughout the city for the next six months and beyond.

Jordan beamed at the thought of selecting the baker because he already had someone in mind—namely Nick DeJong.  He figured selecting the next recipient would be the tough part. Stay tuned.

To keep up with the past and the pass of the Martin Mitchell Mansion Friendship Plate, check out “Pass the Plate.”

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PN Editor
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An editor is someone who prepares content for publishing. It entered English, the American Language, via French. Its modern sense for newspapers has been around since about 1800.

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