I found the SECODER that I spoke about last meeting. It was in the bottom of the wrong junk box with old antenna equipment, not old telephone equipment. My mechanically inclined friends helped me get it working again.
I've written a web page describing my original application, Dial-a-Door.
I got out the x-acto knife and built a display stand just for tonight's meeting. This got featured on the AboutUs blog.
I thought about including an Arduino in the setup to provide an automated demo. I'm glad I didn't. I've been told that the computer would destroy the steam punk style of the whole setup.