CREMATION GARDEN

Journey Journal… Winter Park, FL

MUTATION in ELYSIAN FIELDS

Anyone who has not been to any cemeteries in recent years might be surprised by the modern imprints that now beautify them.  In many cases, landscape architects haven’t left a stone unturned, so to speak.  Cremation gardens, in particular, are contemporary features of recent origin on burial properties and, at certain ones, they are exquisite masterpieces of design.  

The concept of these attractive havens has been grasped by cemetery owners who recognize their desirability.  As the rate of cremation escalates, so does the development of this type of amenity on burial grounds throughout the country.  The economic forecast for a return on such an investment is favorable.  In contrast to substantial acreage required for whole body interments, the space allocated as quarters for many units of cremated remains can be confined to a smaller area.  The sales potential is great due to the significant number of remains that can be accommodated within a delineated area.  Maintenance costs are lower.  And opportunities for stylistic innovations are refreshing in contrast to predictable patterns of commonplace cemetery layouts.  

Sometimes a cremation garden suggests a sense of sanctuary in an area that feels segregated from the rest of the grounds, if not geographically, at least visually.  Foliage accentuates the effect. The Glen Haven Memorial Park harbors one that implies that sort of retreat.  

Its entrance pathways surround a fountain, refreshing to body and mind under the searing Florida sun.

A stroll along groomed walkways reveals an eclectic mix of stone memorials.  Some of the conventional ones are modest and generically basic.

Other memorial structures are distinctly unique and exceptional.

Cremation bench monuments summon an impression of meditative repose.  Such configurations are constructed with single or multiple inner chambers to hold cremated remains of an individual or several family members. They may be straight or curved, with or without arms and backs.  

Symbols reminiscent of the person who died may be prominent elements of style.

For decedents who had been multi-taskers, perhaps memorial signets that serve a dual purpose are especially apropos.  Granite birdbaths invite enlivening activity.

Sundials on pillars with chambers that contain cremated remains capture a natural way to avoid losing track of time… perhaps even alluding to the preciousness of it!    

Often a cremation mecca such as this one features niche walls or community columbaria on the premises.  

It is common, also, to encounter a contemporary version of a cenotaph.  The bronze plaques on this community memorial bear the names of people whose remains were buried or scattered elsewhere – sometimes in another area within the garden.    

In an arena of sectioned “family estates” there is room for multiple burials of related remains.

The expansive allotments offer opportunities for unconfined creativity.  You never know when a visitor might want to pause for a picnic or a game of chess!

Perhaps the most commanding component of this picturesque “Tranquility Oaks” cremation garden is the tranquility of its pond and waterfalls enveloped in lush foliage.  

Amid soothing bird songs, sun-drenched lily pads, and gentle ripples, it is an oasis of serenity that bespeaks the nature of death.  

Glen Haven Memorial Park

PET CEMETERY CIRCUS

JOURNEY JOURNAL... Venice, Florida

An ENDING To Launch A BEGINNING – 

With PAWS, PANTALOONS, and STEAM WHISTLE TUNES

It was a life celebration fit for a king… or, in this case, a dog.

Imagine visiting a cemetery when your companion suddenly beckons you to “look at the clown going by on the road over there.”  One might immediately assume an errant driver was speeding recklessly in this designated zone of quiescence.  

But, no, this was a literal reference to an actual clown rather than the appointment of a derogatory assignation.  For heaven’s sake!  Clowns don’t belong at a cemetery!  Or do they?  

On February 16, 2013, amid hallowed burial grounds at Venice Memorial Gardens, there was no need to admonish anyone with a directive to “quit clowning around.”  In fact, in this milieu that ordinarily invokes subdued reverence, antics and activities common to the Big Top were the order of the day.  Against a backdrop of crypts and columbaria, a circus of sorts “came to town.”

It was a sunny day when the circus theme materialized here to commemorate the life and conduct the burial of a dog named Gizmoe, who had been a cherished companion of one of the funeral directors.  Her interment served as a prelude to the grand opening of the cemetery’s new pet burial section half an hour later.

Photo Source:  Farley Funeral Home - Venice Memorial Gardens Event Announcement

The honored decedent’s pink casket was actually an urn vault utilized for this alternative purpose.

Photo Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

The fete began with the arrival of a carnival entourage. The adapted casket was on a wagon pulled by a singularly notable pallbearer of the day – Lucky Star, a miniature white horse who later showcased a series of tricks.  Her owner served as the circus ringmaster. Chucko, a former Ringling Brothers clown, played a pivotal role throughout the conjoint event as a prominent figure during the service and grand opening proceedings.  Two grief therapy dogs from the Florida Humane Society – a golden doodle and a long-haired dachshund – were at the rear of the processional.  

Photos Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

A bone-shaped arrangement of white flowers with pink ribbons and sparkles accoutered the casket.

Photo Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

The event was open to the public, including canine companions.  Eighty-four humans and sixteen dogs attended the committal service, conducted by two of the cemetery’s funeral directors under a pergola.  Public officials and local media personnel were on hand to glean material for news articles and television documentation.  

Photo Source:  Dorothy Snyder Photography 

The celebrant-led service included references to Gizmoe’s typical behaviors and characteristics.  Individuals who shared her life relayed reminiscent experiences.  A popular poem, “The Rainbow Bridge,” was read, which inspires comfort by alluding to the possibility of pet owners reuniting with their pets once they, too, have died.  Family members released ten pink balloons prior to the release of fifty multi-colored, circus-themed balloons amid a backdrop of relevant musical pieces.  

Photo Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

Pink rose petals lined the dog’s grave.  After placement of the casket in it, some were also sprinkled on top of it. 

Photo Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

The distinguished dog’s personality was captured even for her burial.  Because she had been anti-social, two spaces were utilized, with her body facing backward, so no other animal’s body would be buried close to her at a later time.  The plot is located in the section of the cemetery designated for upright markers.  

An unmistakable celebration of life was the order of the day on this occasion when an esteemed pet was laid to rest.  It was accentuated by clowns, calliope background music, balloons, popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy.

Photos Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

The theme was maintained throughout the grand opening ceremony that followed Gizmoe’s affair.  Though this type of milieu ordinarily is conspicuously uncommon in a cemetery, if ever a circus would appear on burial grounds anywhere, the Sarasota environs would be a logical place.  It oozes Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey history and is still percolating with the company’s people and artifacts.  Because of its infiltration here, in the ‘40s and ‘50s this epicenter for a popular pastime became known as a circus town.  Accommodations for “The Greatest Show on Earth” included winter headquarters in Sarasota, often motivating personnel and their descendants to establish permanent, lifelong residency here.  A museum now houses an extensive art collection from their world travels as well as circus memorabilia, such as wardrobes, props, and equipment along with newspaper clippings and other documentary accounts. 

So it’s not surprising that authentic performers would be on hand for this special event.  In fact, three circus dynasties – the Espana, Anatasini, and Herriott families – were represented.  Entertainment included a classic spinning plates routine, acrobatics, and spins a la the German wheel and the “steel wheel of destiny.”

Photo Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

Antics of trained pups were especially germane, given the nature of the occasion. 

Photo Source:  ICCFA Magazine, Dorothy Snyder Photography 

Of course, a festival with this motif called for edible embellishments.  A Venice caterer provided hors d’oeuvres – pizza bites, finger sandwiches, and pigs in a blanket.  A local supermarket made it possible for the canine and feline guests to enjoy treats as well.  

After the main events, people were given an opportunity to tour the grounds in golf carts, which included visits to the pet crematory.  

Photos Source:  Farley Funeral Homes -Venice Memorial Gardens Pet Cemetery Website

Needless to say, this was a distinctive and memorable way to introduce the community to the addition of pet services at this memorial park.  The blueprint that had been conceptualized in response to a current funerary trend had been transformed into a new facility.  

Photo Source:  Farley Funeral Homes -Venice Memorial Gardens Pet Cemetery Website

And in the process of publicizing its availability, the human tendency to feel remarkable affection toward pets had been colorfully accentuated.  

For now, Gizmoe’s headstone dominates the landscape of this heavenly animal kingdom. 

As time passes, the local canine celebrity will have more company within this acre of burial territory. Graves for other animals’ cremated or whole body remains will increasingly appear. 

If an owner wishes to stay close to a beloved pet, human graves adjacent to the pet section can accommodate that wish.  

Services will continue to be conducted under the pergola that serves as the central focal point for the pet burial grounds.
  

Meanwhile, under a headstone remindful of her memorable memorial gala, Gizmoe is resting in peace. 

Content Resources:

ICCFA Magazine: March-April 2013

Gizmoe's Funeral and Headstone

Pet Cemetery and Crematory

Venice Memorial Gardens Pet Services

Farley's Pet Project

FUNERAL HOMES FLAG RETIREMENT

Journey Journal… Florida and Beyond

A NEW WAVE for OLD GLORY

“You’re a grand old flag

You’re a high flying flag

And forever in peace may you wave

You’re the emblem of

The land I love

The home of the free and the brave

Every heart beats true

‘Neath the red white and blue… “

Since 1906 when George M. Cohan composed the lyrics to this quintessential American march that rallies patriotic fervor, the images evoked by that “… Grand Old Flag” have suggested unblemished crispness.  In the minds of visualizing beholders, probably the flawlessly intact fabric of that unfettered flag undulates picturesquely in sweeping billows against a pure blue sky.  

But, like the people they represent, flags eventually wear out.  Over the course of time they are apt to fade and become tattered, torn, dingy, and no longer emblematically serviceable.  

Photo Source:  Website of Bordentown Home for Funerals 

Actually, the composer’s original title and, later, the first line for this popular piece of music featured the word “rag.”  The notion for it stemmed from an encounter with a veteran who had fought at Gettysburg.  After Cohen noticed that the man was holding a folded, but ragged flag, the veteran declared, “She’s a grand old rag.”  These words were adopted as the name for his new tune, but he had to rethink it since individuals and groups objected to a title that implied disrespect for the iconic national symbol.  Though he changed the “Rag” to “Flag” in the title, the chorus began, “You’re a grand old flag / Though you’re torn to a rag.”  That version, too, went the way of the wind, but copies of the original ones still circulate among collectors. 

So what happens to American flags that become rags or lose their luster?  According to the United States Flag Code, they should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.  

Many funeral homes have responded to this mandate by sponsoring flag retirement ceremonies to which the public may be invited.  

Photo Source:  Website of Hiers-Baxley Funeral Services 

Community members and groups may be asked to deliver their unusable flags to the funeral homes prior to such events.  Protocol dictates a sequence of proceedings that entails either burning of all the flags that have been collected or a representative one of them; in such instances, the remaining ones are later incinerated.  Funeral homes often engage veterans' organizations and Boy Scout or Girl Scout troops to participate in ceremonies.  There may be a Color Guard involved in performing rituals, and sometimes even a military gun salute.  

But let’s look more closely at two lines of the “… Grand Old Flag” song.  Many countrywide funeral homes have established an alternative type of practice that negates a few of the words… the ones alluding to every heart beating true under the red, white, and blue.  

Like the facilities that host retirement ceremonies, they request worn-out flag donations, sometimes by way of prominent signs on their properties.

Kays-Ponger & Uselton Funeral Homes and Cremation, Englewood, FL

But instead of ceremoniously burning the collective assortment outdoors as an event, they burn them individually in conjunction with cremation processes.  That is, according to family wishes, a donated flag is draped over the casket of a veteran prior to its entry into the crematory chamber.  Though hearts are no longer beating under the red, white, and blue, the hearts of family members are warmed by the significance of this gesture.  

Photo Source:  Website of Charlotte Memorial Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, Punta Gorda, FL

The initiative is taken a step further at the Charlotte Memorial Funeral Home.  Flags that are not incinerated as part of cremations are burned separately in the chamber, after which the ashes are placed in the Veteran’s Garden of Honor section of their memorial park.  Some facilities routinely send a certificate to a family, verifying that a flag accompanied a loved one in this manner as part of the cremation process for that individual.  

The ongoing escalation of cremation rates has accelerated a uniquely patriotic opportunity for resourcefulness in funeral homes these days.   This commemorative measure honors those Americans who have served to promote peace for fellow countrymen living under the high flying flag… in the land they love… the home of the free and the brave.

Kays-Ponger & Uselton Funeral Homes and Cremation, Punta Gorda, FL

Wikipedia: You're A Grand Old Flag

 Charlotte Funeral Home Flag Program

             

Hiers-Baxley Flag Program

Kays-Ponger & Uselton Flag Program

NATIONAL CEMETERY AMPHITHEATER – Completion

Journey Journal, Sarasota, Florida

"OH BEAUTIFUL FOR PATRIOT DREAM"

“I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot.” 
                                                                                                                                     ~ Gary Hart

To the visionary who conceived the idea, the culmination of the Patriot Plaza must have been a dream come true.  Perhaps it was like the parental witnessing of a milestone marking a child’s passage into adulthood… complete with the sense of accomplishment, pride, and awe.  The African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” certainly was true under these circumstances, though it was an amphitheater rather than a child that was raised.  

This multi-million-dollar venture that began in 2010 propagated a model of private and public partnership whereby a philanthropic organization, The Patterson Foundation, collaborated with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to achieve a goal.  Teamwork was the underlying strategy, as construction and art advisory groups, architects, construction personnel, artists, legal advisors, and others coordinated their efforts.  A dedication ceremony in June, 2014 signaled its introduction to the public.

Towering above the amphitheater pavilion, a twelve- by eighteen-foot American flag tethered to a stainless steel, eighty-foot-high pole waves in the breezes.  As a gesture of respect for all interred in the cemetery, it is lowered to half staff thirty minutes before the first committal service each day and remains in that position until thirty minutes after the last service of the day.  Typically, the number of daily burials is about eight.

Occupying a 1.83-acre area that’s larger than a football field, the plaza features dual, fifty-foot-high half ceilings in arched configurations.  

With 792 pieces of aquamarine glass comprising this 20,800-square-foot awning, the vibrant roof is a commanding feature of the burial grounds.  Each panel of glass blocks the ultra-violet rays by way of embedded translucent film, reducing the impact of the sun by fifteen to twenty degrees.  Underneath this canopy there is shade, yet the breezes are still felt, as if shrouded by the leaves of a tree.

Though fundamentally encompassing a stage that accommodates a fifty-five-piece orchestra, with seating space for twenty-eight hundred people, this attraction is far more than a performance arena.  Punctuated by a gallery of artwork, it is readily regarded also as an outdoor museum.  

Unseen, yet essential in the Florida environment, there are concrete and rebar support columns fifty-five feet below the ground to assure structural integrity sufficient to withstand Category Five hurricane-force winds.  

The northern portal serves as the main entrance.  Atop a pentagon-shaped surface of brick pavers stand four eye-catching tablets bearing  photos depicting happy moments.  

Although the section designated for an audience is behind the entrance, one could readily construe an impression that this theater of tribute actually faces the graves of those it honors.  Inspired imagery within one’s mind prompts a perception that the headstones are “standing at attention” in rapt acknowledgment of its connotation.

Two seven-foot American bald eagles representing the national emblem of the United States flank the west entrance walkway.  

Symbolic significance has been ascribed to the epic birds with conspicuously menacing eyes, conferring status as guardians – vigilant sentinels to protect people who visit Patriot Plaza along with the veterans buried in the cemetery’s sea of graves. 

At the east entry point, less formidable eagles hover over two nests – one with a parent and fledging... the other empty.  Real branches were collected, molded, and cast for this piece of art.  The birds had been sculpted in wax to create molds before being cast in bronze.  

Source:  Patterson Foundation Dedication Video

Ubiquitous hallmarks of soldiers, such as endurance and courage, are singularly defined on sixteen upright slabs of Georgia marble and glass, which feature photographs amplified by relevant text and drawings.  The eight on the east side of the pavilion encapsulate the military family experience; on the west side the focus is on military service in general.      

Photos of individuals who served in one of the Armed Forces become all the more riveting upon reading quoted commentary coupled with meditations etched on these “Testimonies” pillars.   

Single photos are also mounted on a colonnade of forty-four upright rectangular tablets aligned in military-like formation and situated around the plaza.  

Source:  Patterson Foundation Dedication Video

The pictures illustrate aspects of military life from the era of the Civil War to 2013, including campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.    

A handmade fifty- by three-foot glass mosaic spans a horizontal swath at the base of the stage.  

The colorful image depicts a landscape of earth, air, and water – in or on which all branches of the Armed Forces carry out their missions.

Source:  Patterson Foundation Dedication Video

Within the configuration of a star dominating the granite floor in front of the stage, a five-sided projection map flattened into inlaid stone depicts all seven continents, as viewed from above the North Pole.  It alludes to the wide-reaching influence of American military forces around the world.  

Twenty-foot tapered cones define both the north/south and east/west intersections of pathways.  Dubbed, “Night to Day, Here and Away,” these are covered in hand-tiled mosaics that embody displays of service ribbons amid the sky, sea, and geological imagery.  

Over 7500 plants were planted around the plaza, adding color and a suggestion of ongoing life on premises for the dead.  Young oak trees, Italian cypress, and palms mingle with magnolias, roses, lilies, myrtles, and more.  

Whether or not someone has served in a military capacity, this magnificent showpiece is breathtaking.  Besides its functionality and artistic permeation, it is a remarkable example of an accomplishment that came to fruition as a result of unified efforts among human beings.  It speaks to our ongoing quest for harmonious co-existence with no need for war.  Long ago, Abraham Lincoln implored Americans to come together in a spirit of cooperative camaraderie to “achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”  

In spite of that aspiration, human confrontations persist.  Military forces continue to serve.  A Vietnam-era veteran has metaphorically connected a design element configured in stone pieces at the plaza with the roughness of adversarial human interactions.  Referring to the deliberately course and ragged edges of the photo-story tablets and marble benches, he has noted that they are unfinished and will never be finished.  Such is the presumably inevitable state of affairs relative to human efforts for peace on earth.  

The Patterson Foundation: Patriot Plaza

Sarasota Herald Tribune Article

"Honoring the Fallen," Sarasota Herald Tribune Special Section,

June 28, 2014