The grant will fund Big Sur Oral Histories a project that will collect, preserve, and catalog audio and film recordings with the aim of creating an archive accessible to the public.

The project will also, and equally important, explore contemporary Big Sur life through extensive interviews with current and former residents discussing, among many other things, the rugged surroundings, the conservation ethic, and the ever- increasing visiting public across the past 100 years.

And then…

…we also received a second grant, this time from the Arts Council of Monterey County, for our “Jeff Norman Bookshelf.” Jeff Norman, a Big Sur historian, naturalist, and educator, died in 2007 at the young age of 56. To establish a “one-stop” location for a Big Sur natural and cultural history book shelf appears to us a good way to honor Jeff. We will share the bibliography and the ‘book wish-list’ with you soon.

The bibliography is growing daily and the ‘shelf’ will soon exceed 250 titles. We are sure it will grow ever more over time and also, in this virtual world, be a reminder of the importance to preserve material/hard copy versions of our heritage.

(Note: these grants cannot be used to pay for our 2015 capital improvement projects.)

So, we ask once again: Do these types of projects preserve and champion the Big Sur spirit?

We think they do.