Dave Hill wrote:

> My sister and I are having a party for my dad's 80th birthday. It's
going
> to be a potluck dinner, because we plan to invite 100 or more folks. The

First of all, congratulations to your father for having such a long life
(and many more birthdays to come!) and also for having such sweet kids
who will plan a big bash for him!

> and I hate to have any hurt feelings). Should I post an "open"
invitation
> at the bank or the grocery store or something? Lots of people do
that. But

If it's normal (and you don't worry about weirdos showing up), then why
not? I think RSVP is a good idea - although with an open invitation, I
would think that many would come w/o having told you in advance?

> 2. A lot of the guests would be coming from out-of-town. It obviously

They can bring napkins, tablecloths, plasticware, that sort of thing.
Many desserts are easily portable. Could you have a few microwaves (or
a conventional oven?) available to heat things up?

> 3. My sister has proposed that we supply the meat. Do people have
dinners
> like that, potluck things where all the brought-in items are salads
and side
> dishes and desserts? How would you say that on the invitation? And
what is
> an inexpensive way to go about this?

Just say on the invite what you want people to bring. It's your party,
right? The alphabetical idea suggested by others is right on target.

Meat is expensive. Meat for several hundred adults can really be
expensive. Go to SAM's or Costco or another warehouse to get a bit of a
discount. Maybe your local grocery butcher can give you a discount,
too? Doesn't hurt to ask.

> 4. What about alcohol? The party will be at the local community center
> near where my parents live, and alcohol is permitted to be served there.

Alcohol is also expensive. Why not have it BYOB? Or provide beer,
wine, and an alcoholic punch - but forget cocktails. It's too fussy to
make (unless you have a dedicated bartender friend who will help out).

If the community center doesn't provide this service, I would also
suggest that you rope in at least 10 good friends who will help in the
food prep, event set up, and event clean up. As a grad student, I've
"catered" bbq dinners for about 150 people - and I typically had a group
of at least 15 people helping me.

Some add'l thoughts:
- Things that require lots of "muscle" - food shopping, cutting up meat
(ie cubing chicken breasts for skewers), setting up tables and chairs,
cooking, etc.

- Whatever meat dishes you are preparing, try to have it in a form that
doesn't require a knife. Plastic knives usually are terrible for
cutting meat. Burgers, dawgs, chicken parts, kebabs, these are all good.

- Make what you can the day or two before, you can just heat it up
before the party.

- Set up warming trays w/sternos to help keep the food warm - with so
many people, it will probably take an hour or more for everyone to get a
plate of food.

- Have snack food and beer/wine set up before people arrive - chips/dip,
veggies, fruit - for people who arrive early, for socializing before the
meal, for munching while they wait for the food line to diminish, etc.

- With that many people coming, you are sure to have a few vegetarians
in the bunch. It's helpful to have a variety of entrees that they can
eat. Pasta dishes (think baked ziti) are easy to prepare in large volume.

- If you're going to have a speech, set up a microphone so the speaker
can be heard over hundreds of whispering voices.

- Set up a few party cameras for guests to take photos (but stick a
label or something on the camera body so guests know not to take the
camera home with them!). Have someone not intimately involved with food
or party prep around to take photos (before, during, and after the
party). Try to have photos of everyone who is there! And if you can,
put them up on the web afterwards for all to enjoy.

- Don't skimp on the disposable plates. Get the ones that are plastic
(recyclable), or very heavy paper. In a typical buffet, every adult
will use at least 2 plates for entrees.

- Have coffee and tea available with dessert. If the center has them,
borrow the really big coffee percolator urns so you can just set it up
and forget about it.

And most importantly - relax and have fun! This sounds like an awesome
party.

June