When my mother turned 70, we gave her a surprise party and wrote and performed a little musical of her life. She definitely loved that! But our family is into stuff like that. Yours may be more into art, writing, etc. For my 50th birthday, my husband contacted everyone he could think of and asked them to contribute a little anecdote for an album. He put photos in the back. I adore it. I recently did a "this is your life" slide show for a party honoring someone. Her family gave me photos. But in addition to the real photos from her life, we put in lots of downloaded photos with her face photoshopped in (always the same photo of her face, and always just a little too large). For example, when the narration was about her meeting and marrying her husband, there were a few of the two of them together, and then her with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Homer Simpson, King Kong ... etc. It was really funny to think of things; she is a VERY refined and elegant lady, and we had her getting a tattoo, pole dancing, in a motorcycle gang, on a Tabloid cover, in the Sopranos -- like that. What made it funny was that we kept the narration perfectly straight and played very formal music behind it. It was very well received, and the guest of honor loved it. Do you think your mom might like something like one of these ideas? I, too, think I would prefer something like that to making the guests play games. I think it is so nice of you to make a party for your mother. You don't need to "program" every minute with games, though -- your mom's friends will enjoy socializing with each other.

Where are all the postings from other people? Okay, I have another idea... Send him on a Scavenger Hunt the day of the party. It will get him out of your hair for a while and give him something to do. You will have to do some work to put this together. If you live in a small town it will be easier for you as the shop owners will probably know you and will help you out. Before the party, make up clues to send him to each pre-arranged location and eventually back to wherever his party will take place. If he is leaving from home give him a beautifully wrapped box with the first clue in it. The first clue will lead him to his favorite garden shop where he will find his next clue near his favoite flower, tree or some garden tool he has been drooling over. Have one of his friends meet him in the row with the flower, tree or tool he is looking for to present him with his small gift (the favorite flower etc.) and give him the next clue. That friend can join him in figuring out the next clue that will lead him to his next favorite place. Give him a funny word to say to someone from the store who is aware of the game you are playing. That person will give him 2 clues one to find his gift in the store and the second to his next location. The next clue will lead him to a coffee shop where a few of his buddies will be waiting to have coffee with him. They will buy him a coffee and each give him a piece of the clue which will lead him to the next destination. All the friends will join him to the next location, perhaps his fav. place for lunch where he will meet more friends for a light lunch and more clues. Some of the gifts can be pre-arranged to be gag gifts given at lunch or coffee. You know what he likes so you can plan his destinations and gifts. The final destination will be where his party will be held and the rest of his friends will be there to join in on the fun. You can meet him with a stop watch telling him if he wasn't as old as dirt he would have figured out the clues faster and been home hours ago. The rest of the party can have the garden theme but how about a ho-down (don't know if this is spelled correctly) but you get the idea. Have all the things you mentioned along with a big bowl filled with water and apples for dunking for apples, hire a Caller and have square dancing if you have the room or someone to do line dancing and other (I'm going to have to call it country dancing because the name escapes me right now). You can also rent a floor to lay down in yr. yard if you don't have a deck or patio to dance on. Okay, I'm done for the night. If I think of something else I will post again. Eyerish PS sorry if I spelled anything wrong, I need Spell Check!

I put together a menopause gift basket for a girlfriend of mine... featuring some FUN gift items found at www.flashionables.com. Everyone laughed. You must add a box of Crazy Lady Candy's Chocolates for Menopause. They're always a HIT. I had soooo much fun with this. I'll see if I can figure out how to add a link to flashionables.com. Forgive me if it doesn't work. Here is a link that might be useful: www.flashionables.com

Get a caterer! That is a LOT of people to cook for. You can do a few things yourself and ask the caterer to serve if you ask nicely. If a caterer isn't in the budget, at least order prepared food or platters to serve. Cooking for 80 at a hall is just too much. Hard to say what kind of food. I would pick what your mom loves best -- keeping in mind what your guests will enjoy, too. If she's a baseball fan, for example, have hot dogs and peanuts and beer. If she loves travel, have exotic choices. But I think really your best bet is to give the caterer a budget and let him/her suggest things. That always works for me. For decorations, flowers always say "special occasion," but they can be expensive. You can make copies of photos of her at different stages of life and put them in inexpensive lucite frames of different sizes (you may even be able to ask the store if you can return them if you keep them in perfect shape) and put a few on each table for centerpieces, perhaps with a single flower or candle. We did that for my mother's 70th and it worked nicely. Potted flowering plants with a ribbon around the pot are also nice and inexpensive centerpieces (and a lot less work). You can give them as thank you gifts to people who help you with the party. You are so nice to do this for your mother! Good for you. I am sure she will be thrilled.