Grants:

Colorado has money for this sort of thing if they get interested in the particular project and are convinced that the proposer has the ability to carry it out.

I would start by inquiring of the state and local historical societies where the stories take place. Emphasize the fact that you have photographs, too. If there are enough photographs, a student might take this on as a photo documentary.

Wyoming public broadcasting supported a well done historical documentary that I recall from five of six years ago that wasn't even about Wyoming. It was about the extraordinary day care centers run in the West Coast shipyards from 1943 through 1945. They were examples of excellence, the centers (the film was good too) and for whatever reason, the Wyoming Historical Society and the PBS station decided to support it.

For the kind of support you are looking for, you can do well with in-kind contributions.

If you get a sponsoring organization, you may get people who will donate transcription services I pay $3.50-$5.00/page to transcribe my interviews so that can save you a good deal of money and a huge amount of time while giving the transcriber a tax deduction if they are so inclined. It certainly will give them a chance to participate in an interesting project. Offering a finished copy (protected by copyright) will probably help.

The local equivalent of Kinko's (an office service company) might be willing to donate scans of your historical pictures. Here they run about $10./scan which seems far too high but which makes a significant donation for them when carried out by their staff during off periods when they aren't working anyway.

Anyway, I am sure you get the idea. Just remember that you need a sponsoring organization in order to be able to offer the tax benefit. It has to be a non-profit organization that has the ability to accept tax free donations.

If you would like, let me know your accomplishments as you go on witht his. I have some more ideas but I don't want to overload you and it is important that you try some of these out before you go on to others.

As far as James Bondish activities go, I always (except once) tell people that I am recording, even though I don't need to in this state. That way, it is clear that our interview is "on the record". If I am thinking fast enough, I make sure I record the part where I tell them I am recording and the interviewee says, "Fine, go ahead."

I DO drive a BMW though.

Does it make a difference that it's a motorcycle?

Sourdough