PORTLAND – More than 800 military personnel and family members plan to attend a weekend Christmas party being put on by a local businessman as a gesture of appreciation to Mainers in the service.

The guests at Saturday’s bash in South Portland will include 11 Army National Guard troops who are scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. Sunday for Iraq to fill slots with the 133rd Engineer Battalion.

The party was the brainchild of Joe Boulos, owner of one of the state’s largest real estate firms and a former Marine Corps pilot, as a way to say thanks to what he calls “The Next Greatest Generation.”

Boulos is outfitting an empty building at Mallside Plaza that once housed Service Merchandise with new lighting, loads of American flags and bunting and kids activities such as jumping rooms, a bungee slide, jugglers and magicians. He also has arranged for a military band, a dance band and country music band.

Area hotels have donated 45 rooms so that military families from Aroostook and Washington counties have a place to stay. Boulos has arranged for buses to transport people from as far away as Fort Kent. The Iraq-bound soldiers are being given rooms for Saturday night.