Washington: One ton each of chocolate and cheese. About 1,500 cases of beer. Eight hundred pounds (363 kilograms) of bison.

Those are just a few items that the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington's largest hotel, is stocking for the 49,000 meals it expects to serve January 17 through Inauguration Day. The hotel is among many businesses and government agencies trying to quantify whatever they can before President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in on January 20.

"It's just amazing," said Christopher Otway, the Wardman's catering director. "The chef hands you the list and says these are the quantities they need and you say, "Oh my God!"

"For inaugural planners, dealing with the numbers at first was daunting, said Peter Gage, parade director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

The trick to keeping track? "You've got to break it down," Gage said.

Source : PTI