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This month’s cover of the Bay Bridge at sunset in
San Francisco, California by Tyler Fraser. To see more of Tyler
Fraser’s work visit Fraser Imagery at www.fraserimagery.com
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July/August 2008
- NFDA and Funeral Service Suppliers
Editorial by Ron Hast
Funeral service suppliers provide approximately 75 percent
of the NFDA annual operating budget through exhibit and convention expenses.
Many fondly recall conventions where supplier hospitality frequently
overwhelmed the event. But the “convention experience” has declined
in recent years, and while suppliers have continually asked for accurate
info on convention-attending funeral service-related personnel, they’ve
received only promises and lip service.
- Colleague Wisdom:
This month’s question: Given prevent circumstances and
information, what is your reasoning for (or not) joining state and national
funeral service associations?
- Just Conversation
Ron Hast
Ron muses on the various types of associations and “commonality”
organizations, cites an incident that brings up the question of eldercare
liability issues and mentions a couple wishing to buy a rural funeral
home who ask a distant relative to “get in” on the purchase.
- Privacy Issues
By Douglas O. Meyer
We live in an age where it’s possible to view video
of people doing good and bad things on YouTube or where someone with
a cell phone can take photos without anyone realizing their picture
has been taken. How does this new technology and the reaction to it
affect you? Most people consider a funeral service and cremation to
be private, but as we now live in an age where it’s possible to view
video of people doing good and bad things on YouTube or where someone
with a cell phone can take photos without anyone realizing their picture
has been taken — how does this new technology affect you? Adopting a
policy prohibiting photos or videos of decedents without prior consent
is a prudent step in the right direction.
- Fresh Updated Content
By Robin Heppell, CFSP
In part four of his series on creating a Internet presence
for your business, Heppell discuses the need for steadily adding new
content to your site so as to receive high Google rankings.
- CMS: Creating Mortuary Service and the New Web Site
Economy
By Patrick Davis
You do your research when it comes to purchasing a new
hearse or embalming machine, but many funeral homes don’t take into
account all aspects of developing an online presence. Davis discusses
several “action points” important for you to consider.
News Briefs You Did Not See In The Magazine!
- Bill May Halt Resomation (Concord,
New Hampshire)
Legislators are considering putting a moratorium on the law that allows
resomation — dissolving dead bodies in a superheated chamber. The practice
has been legal in the state since 2006, though legislators wonder how
it was enacted in the first place. Advocates for the process call it
an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation that emits less
carbon and could be significantly less expensive. It’s already used
for medical waste, and at least two American hospitals use it for human
corpses. There are no resomators in New Hampshire and no publicly used
resomation facilities anywhere in the nation, but Concord could be the
pioneer. Goodwin Funeral Home Director Chad Corbin had secured all the
needed permits to bring a resomator to the area. A House committee is
now talking about studying the matter and may recommend a moratorium
on new resomators in the state. The bill’s sponsor said she’s not taking
a position for or against resomation but put it in the regulatory bill
at the request of the state Board of Funeral Directors. Both she and
the board were caught off-guard when they found that a line allowing
resomation was included in a 2006 bill aimed at overhauling crematory
regulations after a recent scandal.
- Navy Mix-Up Leaves Family With Wrong WWII Remains
(Stockton, California)
Westley Stuart’s mother never really believed that the remains they
buried more than 60 years ago belonged to her son, a Navy veteran of
World War II. Stuart was 20 when he was shot down and killed in the
South Pacific, and for several decades the Navy believed Stuart’s remains
were interred at the Parkview Cemetery, but they were in fact someone
else’s. His family always surmised this, so they paid to have the DNA
from the remains tested, proving it was not their son. And so after
60 years, the remains were collected by the Navy. The Stuart family
has little hope of finding their brother’s remains; though in 2003 a
civilian group that searches for missing aircraft discovered remains
and a plane wreckage where the Navy believes Stuart went down. Those
remains have yet to be tested.
- Baseball Team Offers Funeral as Promo Prize
(Grand Prairie, Texas)
Attend a baseball game — and win a…funeral? One professional baseball
team recently offered that unusual prize. As part of a fan promotion,
the Grand Prairie AirHogs offered a funeral and burial — all expenses
paid — at Chapel of Roses Funeral Home and Oak Grove Memorial Gardens.
According to funeral director Charlotte Chism Waldrum, “We thought this
promotion was a great opportunity for us to showcase Irving’s newest
funeral home.” As part of the package, the fan will receive a certificate
for a casket with choice of color, along with professional fees, burial
preparation, use of facilities and vehicle services as well as the opening
and closing of the burial service and a granite marker.
- Four Charged in Insurance Scheme (New Milford,
Connecticut)
The final two suspects in an insurance fraud scheme allegedly hatched
by a Norwalk funeral director are now slated to appear in Superior Court.
That makes four people charged as a result of the investigation which
began after a 2005 Cadillac leased by funeral director Daniel Turocy
was found on fire in late 2007. Police claim Turocy arranged to have
the car stolen to avoid paying several thousand dollars in mileage penalties;
his case is currently pending. Michael McCarthy, 27, and Diane Zukowski,
50, surrendered to police after learning that authorities had obtained
warrants for their arrests. McCarthy is charged with second-degree arson,
conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit larceny.
Zukowski is charged conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and making
a false statement to police. A fourth suspect. Lynn Kelly, 53, faces
two conspiracy counts and one charge of making a false statement.
- Endangered Turtle May Halt Cemetery Development
(Norwell, Massachusetts)
A cemetery project may be put on hold — not just due to the concerns
of neighboring residents, but to the Eastern box turtle. The endangered
species is listed as a natural inhabitant of the area where the cemetery
would be built, adding unforeseen hurdles to the development process.
Engineers say the presence of the species means the town must work within
the guidelines of the state’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species
Program. Negotiations have begun with the state Division of Fisheries
and Wildlife, and the town will likely have to set aside another parcel
of conserved land near the site as mitigation for developing the turtles’
habitat.
- Legislation Seeks Dignity of Dead (New South
Wales)
Under a bill pending with parliament, funeral directors would be banned
from photographing bodies or otherwise interfering with the dignity
of the dead. The legislation was filed after a funeral worker was fired
for taking pictures on his mobile phone of the mutilated body of a dead
man. The worker, who transported the body to the hospital, showed the
photos to hospital staff, who then complained to his employer. Supporters
of the bill want a total ban on unauthorized photography of bodies taken
from crime scenes, and they are hoping the law will be enforced.
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| The Story Behind Our
Cover Photos |
| During casual conversations
with our readers, we are occasionally asked why the scenic covers
of Mortuary Management have no relationship to funeral service.
Publisher Ron Hast explains that our covers are purposely chosen
to be supportive of the surroundings they are often found in. “I
recall visiting funeral establishment lobbies over the years where
trade magazines were visible. Covers often carried lines about embalming
and other issues that could be disquieting to a bereaved family.
We know that many receptionists and others read trade journals during
visitation hours and covers are visible to others,” Ron says.
Most readers concur. The picturesque scenes are also representative
of the respect and enjoyment of nature by everyone at Abbott & Hast
Publications and have been the compliment of many.
Our magazines are mailed with the label on a removable protective
dust cover to allow viewing of the cover photograph in its entirety.
Select cover photographs may be purchased by calling (800) 453-1199. |
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