Dear Party Expert,

[Shona]

Dear Party Expert,

Help!!
My dad will be 75th years old on November 16th. I am planning a party to
celebrate. It will be in a private dining room at a restaurant. What I need is some kind of entertainment ideas for the party. Please give me some suggestions ASAP so that I can implement them into the program.
Thanking you in advance,
Mrs. Johnnie R. P.


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Dear Mrs. P.,

Congrats to your dad! Here are a few ideas for you. If possible, hire a
small group of musicians who play tunes from your father's younger days.
This would be a lovely trip down memory lane if the musicians could play
songs that held some meaning in his life. To find inexpensive entertainment,
contact you local senior citizen center, AARP group, or retirement villages.
The coordinators at these facilities are always working on a limited budget
and usually have a good source of contacts.

Or you could have each of the guest write and read a "memory" for your Dad.
A slice-of-life story capturing a special time they had with your down.
Afterwards, you could put these in a scrapbook with party photos. If you go
with this idea, the best way to handle it is to break the memories into
categories. You wouldn't want all touching ones together. Read some before
dinner, between courses, and after dinner.

Another idea is to have a video made (most video rental stores are able to do
this for a reasonable price or if you know someone with technical know-how)
with photos from his life. And you could pick background music according to
the age of the photos. Ask the restaurant if a television and VCR is
available.

And the last idea, which would involve your guests, is to create a photo
board. Number each picture say from 1 to 20. The guests would have to guess
something about it print. An example: In photo one how old your father is.
In photo 2, where is the snapshot taken? In photo 3, who is with him. And
so on. You would have to make up the questions ahead of time. You could
have the questions photocopied for each guest. Or you could read off the
questions throughout the evening making it last. The guests would jot down
their answers and at the end of the night, read off the correct responses.


Enjoy!
Mary Jo
Every Day Should Be A Party Day!

Party Expert, author and mother-of-two, Mary Jo Rulnick, has planned, prepared and hosted parties for all ages from toddlers to senior citizens. Her experience includes the position of Girl Scout Day Camp Director, Party Coordinator for a local Elementary School and YMCA, and Events Planner for Senior Living Services. If you have a question for our Party Expert, contact Mary Jo Rulnick at party@mainstreetmom.com.
http://MainStreetMom.com