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.

F2BH - you are so right, it is a special culture unto its own ;-) I'm still trying to fit in 2 yrs later - I am from the other side of town! Thanks everyone, lots of great suggestions here. I will call Ducky Bobs and see if they have anything available at this point. Can't hurt to get an idea of the cost for the chair cover's rental and centerpieces. I'm going to have to wait until I can go over there to see what the club offers for centerpieces and everything else before I decide on that stuff. teacats - Emerald City????? Holy cow, I don't EVEN want to think about how much they would be - I'm sure Pres. would choke on the cost, but he would be the type to appreciate them, LOL! And I'll bet he's never heard of them - I'm telling you, Arlington might as well be another planet no matter how close it is to Dallas. I was right and the keyboardist is booked already. In desperation, I texted a friend who works at corporate for a local TexMex Restaurant chain and she's getting me some referrals from their event planner. I also asked the CC to recommend someone. Honestly, keyboardists are perfect for this party (very little if any vocals and more background than show), and hopefully I can find a good one at this late date! We did a White Elephant 2 yrs ago and it was a lot of fun and we will do that again this year. There are very few lags in convo, most of us who work there know how to yak, LOL! But after y'alls opinions, I think I'll leave the table size alone and use what we have in the past. It's really just the decs Pres. is talking about. Again, he'd just prefer to be at home than in a banquet room, even if it is at his home-away-from-home country club (sorry, Jen, somethings just aren't negotiable ;-) Actually, this party is best done in this space. I probably should have put this order-of-events in my OP: -Mix n Mingle/HH -Buffet, sit-down dinner. -Pres. speaks briefly, then recognizes and thanks each employee giving them Christmas cards ;-) -He then reads off raffle numbers and gives out Gift Cards to the winners. -Then we do the White Elephant This takes 4-ish hours, so it's from 6-10p. I'll follow up when I know more, thanks again!

A couple of "orange" recipes: CHILLED PAELLA CURRY Although this recipe calls for the paella to be served chilled, you may serve it warm if you prefer. The chilled paella, however, makes an excellent picnic lunch. Serves 6 Ingredients 3/4 cup olive oil 1 1/2 cups paella rice 3 1/4 cups (26 fl. oz) vegetable broth 1/2 teaspoon saffron 1/4 teaspoon turmeric 16 oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks (or chopped shrimp) 1 small orange bell pepper, chopped 1 cup sliced mushrooms 1/2 cup sliced pimento-stuffed olives 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 cups (12 oz) bottled marinated artichoke hearts, undrained 4 stalks green onions, sliced 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder Directions Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a paella pan. Pour in the rice and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the broth, saffron, turmeric, and cook for 25 minutes or until the rice is tender and the broth has been absorbed. Set aside. While cooking the rice, heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet and cook the chicken until done and browned on all sides. Set aside. Add the chicken to the paella pan with the rice, and combine with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate overnight and serve chilled. CURRIED VEGETABLES WITH SHRIMP 4 Servings Ingredients 1 Tbs vegetable oil 1 medium onion, finely sliced 1 Clove garlic, sliced finely 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon gingerroot, grated 1/2 pound shrimp, shelled fresh 1/2 small red chili, minced 1/2 pound cabbage, chopped coarsely 1/2 pound orange/yellow cauliflower, parted into florets 2 small carrots, diced 1/2 pound yellow wax beans, cut into 3 pieces each 1 medium orange bellpepper, chopped 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt 3 cups Coconut milk 1 Tbs curry powder Directions Heat oil in pan and sauté onion lightly. Add garlic, coriander and gingerroot. Fry for 1 minute. Add shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chili, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, beans, peppers and salt. Cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and curry and cook uncovered, stirring almost continuously, until vegetables are tender. Serve with rice. Joe

Here's the status. Party is in 3 days and I am nervous. It's morphed into a surprise party. Karaoke or games or what? Up in the air. Costco-will roast tenderloin, perhaps on the grill, slice and refrigerate. Flowers from Costco. Caesar salads from Costco. Bought 4 meat and 1 veggie lasagnas from Gordon Food Service. I would like to doctor them up with meat sauce and gobs of extra cheese (which I bought). Dessert. Ordered a pretty and delicious cake from Dairy Queen. Hopefully it will be enjoyed by all. I made one tray of lemon squares and will make another tray in the morning. A sweet cousin my make some cookie bars. I'll get a traveler coffee from Starbucks-easy. Pick up wine, juice, water, sodas. Still need to hang and rehang lots of pictures, long story, and polish flatware and ice bucket. Thirty dinner plates are washed. Cleaned the front door area and leaves are gone. Need possible paper goods. Very tired! Thanks for all your help. Likely I will make either flourless choc cake or nut torte. Have 3 kinds of cheeses, crackers and pretzels and mixed nuts for nibbles while we all wait. Prolly will add more stuff. I'd rather fuss with flowers, decor, baskets and fabric liners, etc. I think dil will like it.