> Like others of his ilk, the main thing that
> Bill Gates is a fan of is Bill Gates.
> Railroad Preservation doesn't have a broad
> enough "ego appeal".(rich nerd
> buys own sports team= cover of Sports
> Illustrated, Time, NewsWeek, ect ad
> infinitum; rich nerd buys one of the most
> significant historic
> transportation-industrial properties in the
> US= cover of Trains)
> The rich and famous are mainly interested in
> being rich and famous, and appearing
> politically correct. They'll donate to save
> the rain forest and any possible cannibals
> that live there "in harmony with
> nature" (unless, of course, you're
> lunch), but danged if they will give a penny
> to save any part of America's industrial
> heritage. Railroads and coal ain't sexy
> enough.

The guy chartered one train, and ever since then, the entire railfoam franterity thinks he is a foamer and should be bankrolling every scheme that comes down the pike.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. One of the larger rails museums recently received a substantial (6-digit) donation from a rich guy; it was the first time he'd ever donated to them, and he wished to remain anonymous. Within days, he was deluged with funding requests and demands from that museum, from differnt departmens and people within the museum, from other musuems and from every other nutball with an 0-4-0T and a restoration scheme within 1,500 miles.

He will probably never donate another cent to anything rail-related.

In regards to the rich and famous, my two cents:

1.) The two "millionares" I've known have done it via hardwork; even if it was inherited, they worked twice as many hours in a day as you or I to keep that money going.

2.) In both instances, they employed a goodly portion of the work force in their given communities. In at least one of those cases, the majority of the man's decisions were based on how to keep or increase those jobs and the standard of living they provided.

3.) One case has shared his wealth so much that our community has physically, economically, and yes, emotionally changed because of him. Part of the reason I have a job is because this man cares about our local history and the arts community enough to put his money where his mouth is.

4.) The same gentleman mentioned above doesn't wear Armani, and tends to drive cars that are, well, pretty mundane, and he ALWAYS buys American where possible. I see him every morning at the local greasy-spoon, and he talks with us average joes the same way he talks to fellow millionares. More importantly, I found he is a great listener (maybe this is why he has the money he has).

5.) Having said all this, I've found that most people who have never met either gentleman believe them to be stuck up rich people, and amazingly, they feel this way even when (or especially when) they share their wealth.
I found most people attack him for supporting one cause over "theirs"; i.e. "I'll only like what this guy is doing if it helps me."

6.) As far as ego-stroking goes; I have met very few people who don't like to see their picture in the paper, or see themselves thanked at least once in a while, and yes, that probably includes me. Its one of the things that makes us human, like it or not. I don't think that the rich and/or the famous have the corner on the market in that department.

7.) The short time that I've been in the museum, I've found that courting the people who give $1.00 at your door just as much as you court the millionares is what keeps you in business. Playing favorites only angers others. In fact, I was told by the afore-mentioned millionare that part of the reason he gave to our endowment was because he saw how we treated a friend of his who isn't rich at all. The friend has now passed on, and our endowment is now named for him, not for the millionare (which is what I'm guessing most of you who are reading this long-winded dissertation were thinking.)

The long and the short; treat every customer that walks through your door as a millionare, and you could be very surprised to learn that one may be!

TJ Gaffney

> The guy chartered one train, and ever since
> then, the entire railfoam franterity thinks
> he is a foamer and should be bankrolling
> every scheme that comes down the pike.

> Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. One
> of the larger rails museums recently
> received a substantial (6-digit) donation
> from a rich guy; it was the first time he'd
> ever donated to them, and he wished to
> remain anonymous. Within days, he was
> deluged with funding requests and demands
> from that museum, from differnt departmens
> and people within the museum, from other
> musuems and from every other nutball with an
> 0-4-0T and a restoration scheme within 1,500
> miles.

> He will probably never donate another cent
> to anything rail-related.


Port Huron Museum

tjgaffney@phmuseum.org