How do I get them to care?

I was assigned the task of accruing as much information as possible pertaining to William and Mariah and their direct descendants on one line for a family reunion we're having this summer.

Anyone who has gone down this route knows that it's impossible to stick with just one line. There's so many interesting branches that extend forward and backwards from everyone in a family tree.

As I acquire the information I learn new things about my ancestors. Things that amaze me. Each day they become more real than the day before.

Come August I'll have a lot of it organized so others in the family can see what I've learned about these amazing people we generically call our ancestors.

How do I get my siblings, my nieces and nephews, even my own children to care about these people and the lives they lived? How do I get them to think of them as something other than a bunch of dead old people, or in the case of Thelma and Mary people who are still dead even if they died young?

To me, this challenge is just as large as the challenge to find the information.

We'll have our Treagors, our SUVs or rented vehicles, our iPhones, laptops, etc., and attempt to imagine life in 1872. It's possible, but not probable. Unless I can find a way to bring 1872 to 2012.

Any ideas on how to bring these people to life so they'll be more than old dead people are welcomed.