<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Thank you to everyone who responded.  It seems like I am the only one
that has refrained from attending events or even eating outside my
home.  The responses varied but it seems that the majority of the people
said the following:
1.  Contact the host and ask them who the caterer is and that because
you/spouse/son/daughter has a medically restricted diet that you would
like to talk to them about the menu.  Most do not want or expect the
host to do it for them.  They have too many other things going on.  Plus
they probably do not understand all the restrictions and most feel
better to talk to the caterer themselves. Most indicated that the
caterer is used to dealing with special diets and more than willing to
work with you. Contact the caterer ahead of time and then double check a
few days before the event.  Finally, introduce yourself when you get to
the event and make sure that everything is in place.
2.  Most said never to go to an event hungry -- just in case things
don't work out.
3.  Many suggested bringing along some gf crackers/pretzels/energy bar
etc to nibble on if needed.
4.  Most indicated that the hard cheeses were safe but to stay away from
blue cheese.
5.  Others indicated that they don't trust anything since a knife to cut
a safe cheese may have also been used on a non safe one. Cross
contamination is very easy with setups that have crackers and different
types of cheeses and fruits.  There are often alot of people back in the
kitchen and anything could happen.

We attended our first event and it worked out great.  I found out who
the caterer was from the host and she had no problem with me contacting
them.  They seemed knowledgeable with having experience in the past with
dealing with a wheat free menu (not celiac but at least close). I talked
with them about what the menu was and what my son could eat (fresh fruit
cup & hamburger patties & hagen daas ice cream) and what he couldn't
(the roll for the burgers and the french fries since they were not fried
in a dedicated fryer and the cake).   They even offered to cook
something totally different but I wanted to make him fit in as much as
possible. So I brought some gf crackers, his own roll, they substituted
rice for the french fries and I brought a gf cupcake.  He ate some of
the fruit from the appetizer table and the caterer had cut up a small
plate of Land O Lakes Cheddar cheese just for him. This one was the
smaller of the two events (only 50 people total) so hopefully I will
have the same luck with the next one.

Thanks to everyone who sent responses.
Michele in MD

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