Gregory Filardo wrote in the 071116 MMD:

    When was the last time anyone has gone to a school and done a pre-
    sentation?  With the financial constraints they operate under, many
    schools would welcome such presentations.

This is one of several avenues that will hopefully stimulate interest
amongst a new generation to help at least preserve the instruments.  I
would recommend however taking it a step further: contact the princi-
pals of elementary schools to organize a field trip to your collection.

In small, orderly, and well-supervised groups, after making certain
that the teachers are fully aware of the value of these instruments and
you establish a "hands off" policy, I have found that escorting small
groups of interested children through a collection makes an impression
that no other presentation or venue can.

This could be done after an in-class presentation (using a video tape
or DVD with actual instruments playing) is done and could be offered
only to those who are truly interested in hearing and seeing machines
live, maybe even letting them drop coins in the slots, while you open
cabinet doors to let them see the innards at work.

Try bringing a small monkey organ or organette of some kind to the in-
school presentation, in order to emphasize the "no speakers/no elec-
tronics" element.  Remember two things: young people have very short
attention spans (no long winded dissertations about history nor manu-
facturers nor rarity), and just about everything they hear comes from
speakers.  So the hook should be "look ma, no speakers!"  Try to remem-
ber back -- and for most, it's quite a stretch -- what it was like when
you were ten or eleven years old, and then factor in the high-speed,
in-your-face culture those kids live in today.

And while I'm on my soapbox, I think it is not in the best interest of
the hobby to have a children-exclusionary policy, as some major collec-
tions have.  Let's face it: as recent auction prices show, ours is a
hobby in serious decline.  Years ago our problem was finding pieces to
buy and getting them restored.  Today it has shifted to "Who will buy
these instruments and what will become of them when I'm gone?"  It's a
frightening scenario, one that is getting worse, not better.

Stephen Kent Goodman