The Main Event by Memory Makers Event Planning, LLC

The Tower of Chocolate was featured on the front page of today's Idaho Statesman along with a great picture. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to try a chocolate fountain, you are missing a treat. According to Thelma, the fountain owner, men are as fascinated with the concept as are women and children. I have taken on the responsibility of mentoring a high school senior through her senior project. She will job shadow for 5 months, attending planning sessions, meetings with merchants, and actually attending a couple of events, as well as helping at a wedding show. I have worked with high school and college students in the past, but this is the longest project I have been involved with. If you haven't shared your expertise with students, you are missing a great opportunity. All of us have something that we do well that we can share with others to increase their knowledge. It is particularly satisfying to learn that they got a good grade on their project or paper because ...

Today I read about a couple in Washington who asked for international telephone calling cards for wedding gifts. They received 60 of them and then donated them to a national guard unit being deployed to Iraq. If you are planning a wedding, birthday, or anniversary party, or another event where gifts are given, you can use your event to benefit others too. If you have a favorite charity, you might ask for items they need; perhaps canned food for a food bank, clothing or sleeping bags and blankets for the homeless, baby clothes for a crisis pregnancy center, food for an animal shelter - the list could go on and on. It is considered poor form to mention gifts in an invitation, but you can verbally tell people what you would like to do when they ask. Your guests may be very happy to give to a good cause.

Thanks to those of you who find information here to be of interest. Some of the businesses mentioned in our posts have indicated that they are receiving e-mails and calls as a result of this blog. We would love to hear your comments as well. If you found a merchant to be particularly helpful or you had a bad experience with a merchant (please don't list specific business names), others can learn from your experiences, so please share with us. If you have heard about or experienced a unique idea related to special events, let us know as well.