By K. Richard Douglas
Some people don’t need an excuse to throw a party; they find an excuse. In other cases, a landmark birthday, whether it be a 16th, 21st, 50th or 100th, will demand extra attention and provide a good reason for extra celebration.
There is work that has to go into the party planning, purchasing of supplies and implementation of a good get-together. The effort can result in a memorable occasion.
One very special party that occurs annually is the Maullapalooza. The event, thrown every September, is the work of Steve Maull and his family. Maull is the owner of Maull Biomedical Training LLC.
The origins of the event go back to 2016 when it originated as a milestone birthday party.
“It’s true origin was in 2016 when my wife threw me my 50th birthday party. We had roughly 30-40 people over to the house for it and my wife went all out. Lots of decorations and she ordered a food truck; it was actually an old fire engine that someone converted into a mobile pizza oven; it was very cool. There was lots of booze and revelry, and at the end of the night, the party moved inside,” Maull remembers.
He says that the next summer was his daughter’s high school graduation, so they basically did the same thing, just on a slightly bigger scale.
“That was when we also purchased a large party tent with tables and chairs, because we invited more people — I’d say around 60-70 — and also rented a booze truck (like a food truck, but with booze). Again, everybody had a blast. It was our daughter Megan’s idea to make it an annual thing. She was going into the music industry and got the idea to call it Maullapalooza, an ode to Lalapalooza, and we’ve been doing it bigger and bigger and bigger each year since. So, 2018 was the inaugural Maullapalooza. Originally, we had around 100 people attend that first year; Maullapalooza 2022 had over 150 people show up,” Maull says.
Pre-Planning and Good Jell-O
Successful parties don’t just grow out of good intentions. There is a great deal of planning and coordination ahead of time. The planning for the Maullapalooza event is no exception.
“Throwing the party is on our mind’s kind of the whole year. What can we do next year that’s new or different? We’re always texting each other ideas we see that might be fun to do at the party, but the serious planning starts roughly four months before the party. A few years ago, we decided the first Saturday of September was the best day to have it for many reasons; summer vacations are over, as is the summer heat, it’s a holiday weekend but not the kind of holiday people travel for, so most everyone is home yet in a holiday mood,” Maul says.
He says that it is around May/June that he and his family start making real plans such as booking the food truck, booze truck, party tent, tables/chairs and anything else that they think of.
“The food and booze trucks are a staple each year; we always use the same ones. We also have a massive quantity of Jell-O shots each year; this past year we made 200. We have five or six different flavors of Jell-O shots and we mix it up a little each year; not the same ones every time. But we always run out of them. Each year we also have giant yard pong, beer pong, flip cup and whatever other drinking games our two college graduate kids and their friends come up with. We also have a 10-foot-tall beach ball bouncing around the party. We’re never sure what to do with it, but we got one,” Maull says.
He says that the week of the party, friends and relatives come in from Florida, New York and Virginia to stay with the family and help get it ready.
“They help setup the party area with decorations, tables and chairs, getting all of the drinks and ice, party snacks, ice cream, popcorn maker, bubble blowing machine, smoke machine, moving yard furniture, setting up the DJ booth — I forgot to mention we have a DJ — and just 100 other little things you don’t even think of until the day of. Our son’s girlfriend is a high school art teacher, so she always does a great job writing the booze menu on the door of the booze truck, all colorful and artistic like. It always looks fantastic,” Maull says.
He says that the absolute best part of throwing Maullapalooza is the 8-10 hours of non-stop comradery.
“We literally have dozens and dozens and dozens of people that we don’t get to see very often; some of these folks we haven’t seen since last year’s party; you know how life is. And all of the attendees are experiencing the same thing; catching up with friends they haven’t seen in a while. So, catching up with all these folks is just never ending all night. Everybody is in a great mood. It just has the atmosphere of a reunion of sorts. This is going to be a thing we do for the rest of our lives. I mean, how often do you get to just have a blow-out party with pretty much everybody you know and like? It’s not just a lot of fun, but it’s sort of spiritually uplifting. Everybody looks forward to it each year,” Maull says.
He says that ax throwing has been one of the most popular attractions at the event.
“We found a company that rents a mobile ax throwing cage; they bring it to you and man it for you during the party. We did it for the first time in 2021 and it was by far the most popular thing we’ve ever done at Maullapalooza,” Maull says.
His advice for anyone considering throwing a similar event may be surprising.
“Unless you’re willing to let a party you are about to throw consume your life for weeks before the event, don’t do it. It’s like planning a wedding once a year,” he says.
Whether you party like its 1999 or 2023, Steve Maull and family know a thing or two about getting a party right. The trick is getting on the invite list.
