what about a simple slide show? (that's all PowerPoint is--a word-based slide show w/ fancy fades and zooms, and a computer to help you type out the words.)

Get people to send you copies of photos of them from all the stages of their life.

My brother's company in Des Moines would be able to take those photos and turn them into a presentation for you. They can scan them, add text if you'd like (or not), and provide you with the equipment necessary to project the pics on the wall (or a big screen).

His company is in Des Moines (Triad Productions), and I don't know if they do work by mail. But there have to be other companies like this in other cities. If Des Moines can support such a business, Denver certainly can; ditto Oklahoma City, Dallas. In fact, Des Moines has several companies that could do this sort of work, so help is out there.

Go to www.yellowpages.com, and do a search for your area using the term "audio visual"--you'll get several categories.

Or, of course, you might find someone else in the family w/ more computer skills who can help with that, if *you* can do the legwork of getting your hands on the pictures, and organizing them.

My folks celebrated their 50th anniversary, and they had a slide show like this running continuously. It was neat--there were a couple of pics from them when they were dating, and pics from their wedding, and then from many events throughout their lives.

I think your grandparents would like the slide show; who doesn't like pictures? And everybody ELSE will like it, too--don't forget that audience!

If it's a really BIG family, you could do a huge poster w/ a family tree. Maybe complete with photos? There are family-tree softwares, I think, but you can also do this w/ posterboard and glue and scissors and markers.

For that, you could get some help--assign each of their children the responsibility of drawing their own family tree down to grandkids on a single sheet of 8.5x14" paper, and then fit them together somehow?

Here is a link that might be useful: Triad AV Services

I agree that a video or a PowerPoint presentation about their lives would be wonderful and bring back so many memories. They won't care about the technology behind the creation of the slide show. If PowerPoint seems too daunting, you can have a slide presentation made.

You might also ask family members to remenisce about things that happened through the years. That always brings laughs and tears.

Does Grandma have her wedding dress? If so, be sure to display it, along with any wedding photos and other memorabelia.

It should be wonderful.

Couple suggestions.....

1) If they're typical for their ages, you may want to consider their stamina. Many older people have difficulty remaining socially active for hours at a time and it would be a shame if they were driven to the point of fatigue. Basically suggesting a shorter rather than longer slide show.

2) You may want to do a slide show for the assembled multitude and thereafter have a "looping" presentation on a computer screen off to the side of the room for people to observe at their leisure.

3) You will likely receive a number of requests for duplicates of whatever you do. Be prepared.

You might consider a scrapbook or album, to which the guests are asked to contribute, instead of or in addition to a slide show of any type. They will find it easier to enjoy again and again later if they don't like electronics.

When my parents had a 40th anniversary party, we wrote to all the guests and asked them to send us an anecdote and perhaps a picture for an album. Even in the pre-internet, pre-personal computer age, it wasn't hard to do, and it will be a snap now that you can easily scan photos, etc. My parents LOVED the album, and I enjoy looking at it when I visit my mom. Be sure to have it on display at the party, too -- I hadn't thought of it in advance, but it made perfect sense that their friends would enjoy all the old pictures and memories, too. We were delighted with all the things people sent. Several wrote poems or did artwork, and one childhood friend of my dad's sent me their whole high school yearbook! I'm sure it was the best gift we ever gave them. I hope to do it for our best friends' 25th anniversary next year.

One thing we do at our family reunions is to use a huge tablecloth to have everyone sign where in the tree they belong. Our family is a bit weird and it ends up looking more like a vine than a tree, but it's still fun to see how everyone is related (I'm still clueless on some of my "relatives" LOL). Start with your grandparents as the trunk, and each child is a major branch, and their children branch off them etc. Our tree ends up with roots too, because we have some very old relatives who are distantly related to our "trunk" way back. Once every signs the tree, you could have it framed (if not too large) or otherwise preserved. Our family reunions are huge events with literally hundreds of people, and it happens every other year, so we save all the trees and display them every year. It's a lot of fun.