Monday, February 23, 2009

graduation party

I have been planning a party for Hot Fuzz's graduation. I met another wife on a forum that recently threw a party for her husband. She's been helping me with tons of ideas. It's pretty much going to be over the top and it will probably embarrass HF, but I come from a family that never celebrated ANYTHING, so I like to go above and beyond when we mark a milestone in our lives. Here's what I have so far (if anyone has any great party ideas, let me know):
  1. Invitations: Look like a subpeona (my father-in-law is majorly paranoid and he'll probably think it's for real when he gets this in the mail)
  2. Decorations: Police line tape, chalk outlines around the house (with tape instead of chalk of course), a line-up corner for mug shots. I'll have butcher paper or something to do the height measurements, and guests can write their names and a congratulatory note to HF on a small dry erase board to hold in their pictures. Blue and red police beacons?
  3. Food: cake made to look like his department's badge, depending on the weather-a BBQ. I'm still working out the food and drink ideas. I think I've seen at party stores police themed plates and napkins.
  4. Games: "Guess that Cop". Have on the wall 50 pictures of famous historical, fictional, and tv cops (John McClaine from Die Hard, 21-Jumpstreet, Barney Fife, Inspector Gadget, etc.) We'll see how many people can name. Also, a donut-eating contest or donut game. Funny but true laws. I can't believe some of the laws in my state.
  5. Gifts/Party favors: handcuffs, police hats, police whistles, and badges for the kids or anyone else who might want them.
I need to figure out a nice graduation gift for him. I found something I thought was cool. It's called a Lock-Write. It's a pen and a cuff key! I don't know if he would actually use it, but maybe. I was also thinking about getting him a digital voice recorder with USB connectivity. He mentioned needing one of these. Does anyone have anything to say about those?

I can't believe all the equipment an officer has to get on his own without the assistance of the department!! It's a good thing cops get paid a million dollars, otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford it all.

9 comments:

MotorCop said...

Hey...sounds like a great shindig! The digital voice recorder is a great idea. My department issues them to us, but I had one prior to them wising up. At any rate, it's a HUGE benefit to the officer. It really does away with 99.9% of citizen complaints when you can play the Sgt/LT/Chief/whomever the stop and/or contact. That, and it's brilliant for remembering to blog things. hehe

The Happy Medic said...

That sounds great! I love the mug shot idea. I think you should have the butcher paper and have folks write messages on IT behind the mugshots, then print out the photos, and put the paper in a box marked "Don't open until retirement!"

Anonymous said...

hey there,

Popping in to let you know i am following your blog......Great posts. Thank you.

It is incredible how much alot of us have to pay for our own equipment...... it cost me 3k to get out of the academy back in the day...... But what was nice i got to keep all my stuff when i retired.

Be well, stay safe

Pepper

Anonymous said...

Those all sounds like such fun ideas. We were so broke when he graduated I didn't do much beyond food and friends and family there. His mom did bake him a pink pig cake, which was hilarious!!

Momma Val said...

St. Michael necklace, patron saint of police. Lots of people gave that to their husbands when they graduated for protective. Maybe a Leatherman or a nice stainless Parker pen? This party sounds very cool!!! We just went out to dinner with a ton of people at Claimjumpers but my husband does not like a big to do for any reason. How about a really nice bag for work? My husband uses one to haul all his crap back and forth. Hope you post some pics of all these cool things you're going to do, I love that kind of thing :) Happy planning!

Momma Val said...

http://www.policecatalog.com/osc/index.php?osCsid=d036dc888211729b958d7b4b3daef5f0

Sorry, I just remembered I had this link. You can also Google police gifts for more sites. Good luck!

Slamdunk said...

What a fun idea. I think I would be a good challenger for the tv cop contest--evidence of a misspent youth.

5150Wife said...

Sounds like your party will be a lot of fun. If you are looking for brainstorming ideas on LEO cakes & goodies, you can peruse back through my blog. I've done lots of them, including a cake that was a replica of the dept's badge.

My hubby's dept has mic pacs so I don't think he'd need the handheld recorder. At least, he's never used the one we've got. But I know he'd like to have a pen like that with the handcuff key. That's cool!

Jess said...

I was googling police academy graduation party ideas and your blog was second! So, I was curious how the party went? What did he like? I'm planning on doing alot of the same things when my husband graduates in 2 months! Thanks!