Any ideas?

Hey ladies,
I am about to start planning a surprise retirement party for my husband. He's been a train engineer 36 years and talked with a friend of his today who is going to help get together the RR folks/wives/friends.
I will probably rent a hall and have a meal catered in but wonder how I can actually incorporate things into the party.
I know there are lots of great ideas out there and I hope you can throw some suggestions my way as far as games/ideas/thoughts on what to do at retirement parties.
Hope to hear from you!
Thanks!

I have seen several.."This is your life" presentations.when it has been teachers pupils from the past..the retiree has to guess from clues...or work collegues from the past.

People add a comment to a scrapbook,..from diferent walks of the retiree's life.It takes time to put together.

A poster with photographs again from all aspects..people gather to share memories.

A M.C. can introduce old friends who then come in and add a spoken memory to the book that is cronological ..so maybe an old friend or two from way back..
and of course a cake....with sparklers!!!

Hi Dee,

I'm not sure whether or not this will interest you, but I did discover a website called TrainParty.com that offers stuff for a train-themed kids party.

They have party favors, paper plates, and some videos as well as costumes.

Of course most of the stuff won't interest you, but it might be fun to have some old train-themed movies silently playing on a big screen in the room, etc...

Dee, the first thing is a good bakery that makes specialty cakes and either have them make one of a train or a likeness of Larry sitting in a rocking chair with a newspaper. Just a thought!

Dee,
That [train cake] idea is great. Check theme party ideas on the net. Good luck.

Thanks all of you for the great ideas...I'm going to have the people who made our wedding cake make the cake for Larry's retirement...it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Ann...I've been checking out the Trainparty.com site and it has some really cool stuff...even the Pinita...I'm thinking that might be good for Larry to get some aggression out?!
Thanks...and if you find anything else, please pass it along!

Ace of Cakes is in Baltimore. You can stay with us when you come to pick up his cake...

Dee, even though parties take lots of time and energy, I've never been sorry for throwing one. So glad you've chosen to do this for your honey.

Ace of Cakes is a show I rarely miss and if Duff can't make a fantastic train cake for Larry, no one can. I kid you not dee...

Dee, So glad you thought the site had merit for your party planning. I'd hoped you would, since as you say, despite it being a site geared for kid parties, there was a LOT of train related "goodies" to sort through and many of them would work for adult parties, too.

Dotsie,

I love the Ace of Cakes show, though I don't get to watch it very often. They are SO creative. I especially remember watching an episode related to making a cake for a Zoo Party. Phenomenal what they go through to deliver the cakes.

I'd say that if she were to engage them Dee will need to have their crew drive the cake to the party. AND while I bet it would be VERY PRICEY it would be an indelible memory for the party.

She'd need to take lots of pictures!!

Ace of Cakes can also make it smoke, and whistle. Duff is a genius as is most of his staff.

Oh no...I have no idea who the Ace of Cakes is...I take it come kind of TV show? Do you ask them about doing cakes? Do you think they'd make one for a 3rd generation RR guy down south in Alabama?
Don't I wish I had the money for something like that...Larry would be so blown away.
I am thinking of having a Mexican Pinita in the shape of a train and letting him whack the heck out of it to vent his frustrations for having to put up with the RR for 35 plus years.
Thanks for the support and ideas you guys. And if anyone has any personal contact with Ace of Cakes, have them call me...:)

You could probably get the number from informatio in Baltimore, Maryland.

I don't have any personal connection with Duff Goldman, whose Food Network TV Show is called "Ace of Cakes."

But I do know his bakery is called "Charm City Cakes." Here is the link to their website, and I believe you can find a phone number for them on the site...

Charm City Cakes

I took a quick look on their site and discovered that the MINIMUM they charge for a cake is $1,000, so I expect it will not prove cost effective to get Duff to make your cake.

But maybe if you call them they can recommend a bakery in your area that might be up to the level of work they do.