White Chocolate Grill Launches ‘WCG Cooks’ Cooking Show with Pumpkin Cheesecake in Naperville

If you were at the White Chocolate Grill on October 21st, it may have looked a bit like Food Network was invading the kitchen.  Though it wasn’t Food Network, the White Chocolate Grill began production of a new online cooking show, WCG Cooks, filming during the dinner rush at its Naperville location.  What is the source of my inside information?  The answer is my new firm, Social Frequency Media Communications, produced the first two episodes.

The series, which features WCG Executive Chef, Robert Kabakoff, and Chef/Owner Bobby Fitzgerald, takes viewers behind-the-scenes into the WCG kitchen to celebrate great food, explore ingredients,  see how menu favorites are prepared and to learn great tasting recipes you can replicate at home.  Episode one focuses on a refreshing spin on a seasonal favorite, Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Hungry yet?  You can experience episode one below.

Another benefit of producing these first two episodes is being able to sample the finished product and let me say WCG’s Pumpkin Cheesecake is amazing.  But you don’t have to produce a cooking show to try this Pumpkin Cheesecake, just head on over to the White Chocolate Grill Naperville for a slice.  SM

The Tale of a Perfect Date Night in Naperville, Complete with a Little Joy Yee and Tutto Dolce

As any of you with a young family will attest, it is truly a rare occasion when the planets align with the stars and moon to offer an evening window for a simple old-fashioned date, free of chicken tenders, plastic kid’s cups, broken crayons and other unexpected outbursts of fatigue-induced pint-size drama.  Simply put, date nights for husbands and wives make us much better moms and dads. 

With the Labor Day Weekend in full “Fling”, one such opportunity presented itself last evening.  Now your first assumption would be that we headed into Downtown Naperville for Last Fling, right?…BZZZZZZ… wrong!  While it was a tempting thought to walk along hand-in-hand amidst the twinkling lights of carnival midway and smell of powder-smothered funnel cakes riding upon the gentle September breeze, we opted to go a different direction all together in branching out to try somewhere entirely new… well at least new to us.

As you may recall, we moved to South Naperville last year and its now easy to understand the geographic divide between North and South given the route and commute times.  Nonetheless, the movie we wanted to see, 500 Days of Summer, was at AMC Cantera so we decided to head somewhere on the Northeast side of Naperville.  The choice was easy as I’d been wanting to go to Joy Yee’s Noodles, well, for about 4 years now. 

Located in Iroquois Center just west of Naper Blvd, Joy Yee’s Noodles lives up to its authentic pan-asian experience which I first learned about from WTTTW’ Check Please program ( click here to see the WTTW Check, Please video on Joy Yee’s location in Chinatown).  We headed over about 6:30 PM thinking that it would be a quiet Sunday evening.  To the contrary, as we pulled up we saw a crowd out front carefully examining over-sized menus.  Had the kids been in tow, we may have kept driving… but hey, this was date night and the world was our oyster… if only for a couple of hours.

Speaking of “pearls”, I will confess that I love fresh fruit smoothie/freeze drinks loaded with those large black tapioca pearls and completed with one extra-wide straw.  At Joy Yee’s, these drinks are a main event as the first thing you see when you walk in is the the wall of fresh fruits and the drink assembly station.  Though the place was packed, we were warmly greeted by the host and a bit surprised when he said the wait would be around 10 minutes.  He was right and soon we were seated among the sea of tapioca fruit freeze slurping humanity. 

The place was crowded and tables were packed close together, but I really liked this fact as it added to the charm of walking into the door of a Naperville restaurant that truly transports you to Chinatown.  Even more, the closer you are seated to others, the easier it is to quickly eyeball the dishes being served up as the commitment-averse should beware, Joy Yee’s menu is a bit mind-boggling with its wide assortment Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and a touch of Chineese culinary offerings.

We started with, of course, a couple of fruit freeze drinks.   Mine was Strawberry and Lychee with a nice gob of tapioca pearls and my wife’s a Mango and Lychee minus the gelatinous chewy wonders.  My wife spent a number of weeks in China when she was in high school, which is where she developed a fond affection for the exotic tree-fruit lychee.  Perhaps the best part is that Joy Yee not only offers  quality and selection when it comes to the ”bubble” fruit freezes, but their prices in the $3.50 – $4.o0 range is great.  This should be a lesson to the other Asian restaurants in town that offer the same tapioca fruit smoothie drinks for $5.00 and up… and you know who you are.   

As we emerged from our disoriented menu-scanning haze, we were actually more confused than when we first opened the epic volume.  Knowing that we wanted to try a dish that we had never eaten before, we went with our gut instinct which was telling us a relentless blast of hunger was closing in on us, which drove us back to the first thing that caught our eye.  For me, it was the Spicy Korean Pork served on a hot plate and for my wife… well, it was a pot full of rice, beef, cabbage, hot sauce, onions and fried egg on top.  Both dishes were absolutely delicious and only got better as the flavors continued to combine before our eyes once the food reached the table. 

One word of caution, the innocent benign-looking slivers of dark green peppers hanging out on the spicy pork hot plate like a peaceful Friday night at the “Gas-n-Sip” are, in fact, sleeping volcanic daggers of tongue-numbing, head-melting shock waves which burn slowly through your mouth up to the top of your head like a slow-burning explosives fuse.   Once the cute little pepper has you in its merciless clutches, your only choice is to ride out its fury and hope the table next to you doesn’t spot the shower of sweat cascading off your sizzling forehead.

Despite my lapse in judgment as the other peppers on the plate mocked my foolishness for eating their little green cousin, the meal was absolutely delightful leaving us in antipation of our next trip to Joy Yee’s.  The good news continued when we received our bill, which was under $30… including our towering fresh fruit freezes.  A great all-around culinary and cultural experience, which left me lamenting the fact it has taken so long to check out Joy Yee’s. 

Upon emerging from the bright and colorful strip mall space into the crisp moonlit breeze, our only thought was to make the walk to our car as long as possible to “burn” a few minutes as we were still early for our movie time.  Two doors down from Joy Yee’s, we discovered another unexpectedly delightful experience in Tutto Dolce Gelato.  I mentioned to my wife that it might be nice to have something to cleanse the pallet as she said, “what, the giant fruit freeze wasn’t enough?”.   A point well taken, but still we had time to kill and I love checking out new Naperville spots. 

Now I’ve had gelato locally and in Europe which leaves me a bit spoiled, but Tutto Dolce really impressed me in its quality and variety.  The other factor that really impressed me was the service as the owner was more than happy to patiently serve as our host in providing samples from one end of the freezer case to the other.  We talked about the gelato-making process and the fact his humble-yet-affordable strip mall location enables him to spend more money on quality ingredients.  You can see the passion and creativity in Tutto Dolce, which we were told has been around a for a while, but recently changed ownership. 

If you aren’t familiar with gelato, allow me to give you two great reasons to give it a try.  First, it’s less fattening than regular ice cream or custard and, second, it is smoother, creamier and more flavorful in my estimation.  While we were told that Blood Orange is their best-seller, my heart found its home with the Chocolate Orange.  It’s almost like eating the chilled center of a chocolate truffle with a touch of orange citrus.  Is there a better combination?  Tutto Dolce has one full case of fruit-based gelatos and another entirely consisting of new spins on familiar favorites, such as French Vanilla, Coffee, Chocolate and Banana.  For these reasons and more, I can only rave about Tutto Dolce and will be back very very soon.  This is a gem which is deserving of our local support and enjoyment. 

The evening would have been a wonderful success even if it had ended there, but we proceeded to Cantera and really enjoyed 500 Days of Summer… a great date movie which can be truly enjoyed by those of us who are much further down life’s path than the film’s characters, but at the same time remember the trials and tribulations of finding and falling in love.  In a way, a special date night like this one is almost like falling in love all over again as we pause to cherish and reminisce about the past and look toward the future.  All too soon, we were pulling our carriage back into the garage as it returned to the more familiar form the family car, complete with booster seats, matchbox cars and coloring books in the backseat.  SM    

Naperville Olive Mill a Flavorful Experience both In Store and Beyond

Last month, during our family vacation to in South Haven Michigan, we drove up to Saugatuck for day to visit the art galleries and shops.  Shortly after lunch, we stumbled upon a small shop called The Olive Mill.  From the street, we could see customers standing in front of rows of shiny stainless steel containers. 

Curious, we walked in to discover one area of small-batch flavor blended olive oils and on the other side of the store another area of small-batch flavor blended balsamic vinegars .  Given our love for cooking, how could we resist the warm offer to sample as many from tiny paper cups as possible.  Our kids even got into the action, of course with us helping them pour a little from the spout of each stainless steel container.

Now keep in mind, we had just finished a lunch of freshly fried lake perch and were not exactly hungry.  Nonetheless, I first tried the Strawberry Balsamic and my taste buds unexpectedly sprung back to life with delicious excitement.  From small-batch traditionally aged balsamic to others including apple, pear, black currant and champagne balsamic.  As shown in these pictures, we settled for an amazing Tangerine Balsamic.

While I was sampling the balsamic vinegars, my wife was over with the small-batch olive oils.  Flavors included blood orange, walnut, truffle, lime, Meyer lemon (had to try of course), garlic and many more.  We settled on an extremely refreshing basil olive oil.

We were so excited by our find, then suddenly heard from across the store one of the clerks say, “Naperville”.  We walked over to ask if they had other locations, and the clerk mentioned Naperville.  Now I’ll have to admit that in a moment of pride I questioned how could I, the “World of Naperville”, not be aware of this gem of a store in our own backyard.  Then as soon as she mentioned the English Rows, it dawned upon me that in fact we had noticed the store in the English Row shops just off of Rt. 59 a number of times.  I’ll have to confess though, I made no connection between the name ”Olive Mill” and the wonderful hands-on consumer experience and products we sampled. 

Thus, last Friday, after having lunch at Tommy Nevins my wife and I walked over to the Naperville Olive Mill store for a closer inspection.  Steve greeted us warmly and we enjoyed our conversation about the company and the many rich flavorful products they offer.  The store format was almost identical to the Saugatuck store.  If you love rich olive oils, balsamic vinegars or any number of related products, I strongly recommend you drop by the Naperville Olive Mill on Rt. 59 at the English Row Shops a short distance south of 95th Street.

In the meantime, here’s recipe I would share from our family dinner this evening:

Grilled Basil and Tangerine Portabello Mushrooms

Start with fresh portabellos from the Naperville Farmers Market (each Saturday during the summer at 5th Street Station).  Blend one part basil olive oil with two parts tangerine balsamic vinegar from the Olive Mill.  Next, add a couple of fresh bruised basil leaves (ours from a basil plant purchased at Trader Joes in Gartner Plaza) along with some fresh crushed garlic, salt, pepper and a little bit of all seasoning.  Marinade the portabello mushrooms in plastic bags for 30 -60 minutes and toss onto a beyond hot grill to sear in the juices. 

With so many combinations to consider, the possibility of new flavor experiences from the Olive Mill is seemingly limitless.  What are you waiting for?  Head over to the Olive Mill to support this wonderful and relatively new Naperville business.  This is one place I’m really excited about.  SM

Big News from Stuart Meyer in the World of Naperville

To my regular readers, you may have noticed that it’s been nearly a month since my last post to the World of Naperville.  Atop the 4th of July holiday, a week-long vacation and quick business trip to London there has been much change brewing in this Naperville household. 

As many of you may recall, part of my original reason for launching the World of Naperville back in 2006 was to become a virtual activist of sorts, participating in our community despite the fact my job carried me 35 miles away each day.  For a long time, I’ve dreamed of not only living, but also working in Naperville being able to stay connected to our community on a daily basis.  Today, I’m pleased to say that I’ve made the leap of faith.

As of July 2nd, I launched my own social media and association management consulting practice, Social Frequency Media Communications and Association 2020 Consulting right here in Naperville.  It has been natural next step for me and I’m humbly excited to be embarking upon this new venture which moves me further down the path of my life’s purpose. 

Additionally, this move also positions me to focus more time and energy on my current documentary film project, Imprévu – The Kenneth von Heidecke Story , which will be finishing principal photography by early 2010 and immediately heading into post-production.

As for the World of Naperville, my new path will provide me more time to focus on my labor of love… this blog.  With that said, upcoming postings this week will focus on Safety Town and a film shoot with legendary opera stage director, John Copley, in London.  SM

DOUBLE FEATURE – Bobby Fitzgerald of White Chocolate Grill Vying for Regis and Kelly Appearance AND Newest Chicagoland Apple Store to Open Doors in Dowtown Naperville

As summer has abruptly heated up over the last couple of days, so has the pipeline of World of Naperville postings.  There were two big pieces of news I wanted to get out and wasn’t sure which to post first, so I decided to post both as a first-ever World of Naperville Double Feature.

First, with fingers crossed, an overdue congratulations to White Chocolate Grill Chef-Owner Bobby Fitzgerald on being a finalist in a recipe contest which could land him a special appearance on Live with Regis & Kelly later on this week.  If you haven’t eaten at the Naperville White Chocolate Grill, what are you waiting for?  Get over to Freedom Commons now for one of the most unique culinary experiences Naperville has to offer. 

I’ve gotten to know Bobby over the past year and have to say that I think I’ve met my match in terms of energy, vision and goals for one lifetime.  At an age not far from my own, he’s really making his mark and is on the rise in the U.S. restaurant industry.  Below is a sneak peek at the video submission in which Bobby manages to get upstaged by his adorable “chef apprentice” daughter. 

My second post is regarding what I personally find as one of the most exciting new business announcements for Downtown Naperville.  First, allow me to premise what I’m about to say by reiterating that I’m generally not a big fan of national chain retailers taking up space in Downtown; however, this one is a big exception on a personal level. 

The final renovations are nearly complete as Apple will be giving Naperville it’s very own Apple Retail Store which will be located in the former Sharper Image space on Jefferson Ave. just west of Main Street. 

As you can see, in celebration I’ve proudly posted a photo of my own Mac G5 tower  to the right.  Perhaps it’s a “Mac thing” but the great value of Apple Retail Stores is not merely the fact you buy Apple products, such as Power Macs, iMacs, iPods, and of course iPhones, but most importantly the on-site training which is typically provided at each store.  Needless to say, I’m always looking to expand my knowledge of Apple and related products and software. 

I don’t have a firm date, but I believe I heard the Naperville Apple Store will open its doors sometime in August.  SM

A Downtown Naperville Taste of Spring in February and Sugar Monkey Cupcakes

How wonderful was the weather this weekend?  With the sun shining and the temperatures far more humane than the sub-zero weather we’ve endured since December, my family and I  decided to head for the Riverwalk on Saturday.

Ironically, this was not an original idea for the masses.  As we drove into downtown, had I not known it was February I would have thought it was May judging the crowds on foot, jacket-less and even a few pairs of shorts to be seen.  We had a great time walking down the Riverwalk a bit, marveling at the ice shell on the DuPage River which actually had rushing water running beneath its thin shell.

My four year-old accidentally lost his partially eaten apple to the rushing waters.  Somewhere down along the river there is a happy animal still reveling in his big find of a shiny lightly chomped red apple. 

We walked through downtown, taking the usual stroll by Naper Nuts and Sweets to inhale the intoxicating aroma of caramel corn and we even discovered an exciting new independent cupcake shop, called Sugar Monkey Cupcakes , open on Chicago Avenue.  I was in hopes I would be able to report on the decadent confections in this new bakery-grade space, but they had pretty much sold out their daily stock by the time we arrived.  The nice clerk apologized saying they made their cupcakes fresh daily and when they were sold out, they were really sold out.  Not be deterred, I can appreciate their commitment to freshness and quality, thus I look forward to another trip downtown to try what I hope will be one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted.

As the afternoon wore on, we dropped by Anderson’s Bookshop for a quick browse only to discover a book signing taking place.  I was not familiar with the author, but I’m constantly amazed by the sheer number of book signings this wonderful indepedent book shop attracts. 

After Anderson’s we decided to take in an early dinner about 5;30 PM at Lou Malnati’s Pizza for one of our favorite pies in town. By the time we left, the place was packed and people were happy to be out.

It was almost like a Spring day… well almost… for February.  SM

Wayfarer Candle Company a Downtown Naperville business story and experience we need

Last month, my sister-in-law and her boyfriend from NYC were in town for a quick visit.  Given the fact this was her beloved’s first trip to Naperville, it was no-brainer that we would spend a day strolling through Downtown Naperville.  With the kids in tow, we were walking down Jefferson Avenue and suddenly noticed a fragrant aroma drifting through the air.  We literally stopped in our tracks and looked to our left to find an open door and stairwell leading down to one of the subterranean commercial spaces.

The sign outside read  Wayfarer Candles .  How could I have missed this place I thought?  At this point, let’s examine the facts.  Exhibit A, you have candles.  Exhibit B, you have extremely fragrant candles.  Needless to say, the bait worked and my wife and her sister led the way as we carefully navigated the steps down into the smaller-than-expected space along with the kids.

What we discovered was nothing short of a breath of fresh air amidst the stale debate as of late around skyrocketing commercial rent and new downtown development which will be delivering additional national chains to Naperville. 

Believe or not, this tight space houses both a product showroom and studio space where the candles are actually blended and poured.  We’re talking candles made from soy bean oil and custom blended fragrances.  You can imagine I was a bit nervous with my two little anxious guys in an ultra-small shop filled with candles in glass.  However, all of a sudden the owner, Mike, walked over and the tables turned as he invited my two sons into the next room to see how the candles are actually made.  Mike walked us through the entire process from the melting, to fragrance selection/blending to perhaps the greatest conversational piece which is a depression-era safe complete with a large heavy door (pictured above). 

Believe it or not, the experience of seeing and learning more about this process proved fascinating for all of us, especially the little guys.  I’ve written about the difference between a business and an “experience” and Mike’s passion creates a true experience which is both memorable and worth recommending to others.  In the end, we were all given a traditional gift which the boys picked out.

As my wife concluded some purchases, I spent some time talking to Mike and learned that he and his wife had been living in New Orleans before Hurrican Katrina.  He was working as a chef and they both loved the Big Easy.  However, after becoming displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the couple settled here in Naperville and launched their Wayfarer dream which transcends a mere shop to a large scale market strategy sell their candles through channels in bulk as well as private label deals.  In the end, we were all given a traditional gift which the boys picked out.  For now, the store is a public face for Wayfarer candles and let’s hope we can keep them there.

In a nutshell, this is precisely the type of entreprenuerial vision our community should be supporting wholeheartedly.  A start-up business which is well on its way to possibly becoming a national household name given the scope of their strategy.  I encourage everyone to support this new business which may one day require a local corporate headquarters of its own. 

Wayfarer Candles is located at 34 West Jefferson Avenue.  Be sure to follow the fragrance and look down as the store is located beneath the recently closed Antique Mall.  I’m sure Mike would love to take you on a tour.

Cape Cod Visit and “Best Place” Ranking Has Me Thinking About Naperville’s Own Future

Over the past couple of years, I’ve written quite a bit about my own personal fears regarding Naperville’s future and whether or not our uniqueness and charm can be maintained.  Given our recent “best place” ranking for 2008 dropping in the near vicinity of a weeklong vacation to Cape Cod, MA, I’ve had allot to think about.

Our journey took us up into the tip of Cape Cod into North Truro, just minutes outside of Provincetown.  Aside from being a wonderfully colorful place, Provincetown is best know historically for being the first landing point for the Pilgrims dating back into the 1600s.  They remained in the area for five weeks prior to moving further inland in search of a more suitable terrain in which to settle. 

Today, Provincetown is a creative and open-minded mecca for artists, accepting of all people and a carefully preserved historic landmark watched over by the highly visible Pilgrim Monument (pictured above).  Aside from a strong art vibe and plenty of interesting people, the biggest aspect I appreciated about Provincetown was the absolute lack of any form of commercialized business or national chains.  Commercial and Bradford Streets, the epicenter of activity, is lined with endless art galleries, local theaters, music venues, bars, independent restaurants, candy shops, indulgent ice cream shops, unique one-of-a-kind shops and more which can all be accessed by foot.  Given the combination of “high brow” and ”low brow” experiences, any air of pretension was lost in the coastal night air.

Provincetown is one-of-a-kind and could never be easily duplicated.  Additionally, there is a truly authentic sense of place and history.  Entreprenuership and small business rules local commerce and greenspace, including the national seashore, is abundant. 

Given all the discussion and debate I’ve heard about Naperville’s own future, including concerns from others ranging from local business leaders to residents, our greatest fear is the loss of our own uniqueness to the almighty dollar. 

We must expand our creative and innovative investment in our community and protect our downtown and other areas from becoming overly commercialized. 

We must foster a strong arts collaboration, not competition, through public and private support remembering that any art event promotes the arts community as a whole. 

We must expand public-private partnerships to foster entrepreneurship and originality, not to clear the way for national chain stores and restaurants to saturate the our downtown. 

We must create a multitude of activities downtown to create more options after dark to merge with the current nightlife. 

We must avoid the exploitation of greedy self-interest and keep the skyrocketing prices of housing and commercial space downtown to make room for all who dream of living or building new business concepts in downtown. 

We must continue to preserve and enhance our green space which has made one of the biggest differences in our community. 

We must value the richness of culture which resides in our community and continue cultivating a more metropolitian attitude driven by appreciation, understanding and acceptance for each other.  

We must also continue to give back to our world which has given us all so much in life.   

Finally, we must never forget that “community” should not be the control of the few but rather the resolve and cooperation of the many.  Let’s work together Naperville to build an even stronger future!  SM 

Why Stone Soup is a Key Ingredient in Sustaining Future Prosperity for Naperville

Perhaps it’s the fresh crisp Autumn air of Salt Lake City, but my business trip to Utah’s famous urban outpost has me thinking allot about how our community can navigate an even more prosperous future.  How will we manage our success?  How will we respond to adversity?  How will we foster community and economic growth?  

As I slowly walked back to my hotel this evening, after an ironically excellent seafood dinner at Market Street Grill here in downtown Salt Lake City, the legendary childhood tale of Stone Soup came to mind as I further contemplated future scenarios, both good and bad, for our community.

To summarize the tale, Stone Soup is essentially about hungry travelers who come across a small village and decide to take a rest.  With little food to eat, they light a fire and place a pot full of water upon the flames and drop in a single stone.  Curious villagers eventually approach the travelers to determine what’s going on.  The travelers explain they’re making stone soup.  Upon learning of the bland recipe, one-by-one the villagers bring ingredients ranging from potatoes and carrots to salt and pepper.  Eventually, a hearty stew emerges as a result of the cooperative efforts of villagers working together in collaboration with the travelers.  Everyone dined together and the villagers learned that no matter how difficult times got, they knew how to come together to make stone soup.

To me, Stone Soup provides a vital moral for community growth as there are no singular points of origin for the many ingredients which must be assembled to manage growth and elevate prosperity.  It’s more like effective supply-chain economics or what one might call integrated community development.  Success requires the coordinated efforts of many local and non-local stakeholders who possess the key ingredients which can be contributed towards the recipe for achieving and, more importantly, sustaining community prosperity.  

Had the travelers been left alone to their stone soup, they may have ultimately starved.  As for the villagers, if they had not been united to work together, they would never have enjoyed the delicious stew nor would they have realized the powerful value of cooperation.

How does one apply the value of cooperation to Naperville you ask?  The answer resides in understanding the vital, yet not always obvious, inter-relationship between vital community assets/stakeholders.  The degree to which key community stakeholders are able to join together in pursuit and promotion of mutually beneficial community goals will determine ultimate success or failure. 

For example, the business community depends on a high quality system of education to cultivate a highly-skilled workforce which is a key component to a sustaining economic environment which also depends upon a strong tax base to ensure ample funds are available to be appropriated by governmental bodies for transportation and infrastructure which enables civic organizations both the audience and resources to stage events which spur residential and visitor participation in commerce which feeds back into the business community. 

It’s not whether the “chicken comes before the egg”, but rather the chicken working in cooperation with the egg to coordinate a productive chain-of-events.  Put yet another way, and to borrow from my home state’s motto, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”. 

The hard part comes in trying to build success upon a foundation of success, as success unfortunately tends to breed complacency and insularity.  Perhaps the ultimate remedy is to get back to the basics of making a new and improved batch of stone soup before the existing stew spoils.  ”Hunger” is a tremendous motivational force and as a community we must stay hungry in order to sustain the momentum of our success.

Politics, in all forms, is the art of compromise.  Compromise is a result of setting aside divisive differences and focusing on mutually shared interests.  As we move forward in pursuit of a brighter future for Naperville, we must focus less energy on our differences and realize the power of working cooperatively toward mutually beneficial interests.

Who’s ready to make some stone soup?        

Honor the Past – Imagine the Future

Though it’s hard to believe the formal millenium celebration of 2000 is now seven years behind us, the theme of the former White House Millenium Communities Program, “Honor the Past – Imagine the Future”, will forever ring within our hearts here in Naperville.

My youngest son and I recently participated in the full Millenium Carillon tour experience and while I plan to write a full account of our visit very soon (tune back in soon to learn whether or not a three year-old can climb that many steps) this theme, which is incorporated into the visitor center exhibit, suddenly came to life. 

In my mind, few words could better describe the true spirit of Naperville.  Our community’s relenteless preservation of it’s history is rivaled only by a strong devotion toward imagining an even greater future.  Preservation, imagination and visionary progress can only be achieved through the minds and hearts of passionate residents, leaders and volunteers alike. 

The differentiating factor in Naperville is the cooperative and visionary spirit of it’s people.  Any hand can paint a picture but only the heart can make it a masterpiece.

As we imagine our future, it’s important that we continue to work together in shared interest to ensure the preservation of our masterpiece for present and future generations.