Here is some news from around the world of funeral service in the last week.

• KCBS of the San Francisco Bay Area reports that the Mare Island Naval Cemetery has been declared a “National Disgrace” by  a Navy captain.  The 160 year old cemetery, founded in 1854,  is not a part of the VA system of cemeteries. Instead it was given  National Historic Landmark status in 1975 and eventually turned over to the City of Vallejo.  The city declared bankruptcy in 2008 and since then the cemetery has had minimum upkeep from the non-profit Mare Island Heritage Trust.  The VA says this is a City of Vallejo and State of California issue and not a problem of the national government.  Three United States Medal of Honor recipients are buried at Mare Island.

• Most of us, even if not alive at the time, think of Woodstock, New York as where the 1960s rock legends came for a legendary weekend of music.  Well, it seems that the name will not only go on living in the music industry but an article that can be read here notes that the Woodstock Artists Cemetery is now becoming a fashionable resting place for the creative population.  Among those whose remains are interred there are Chevy Chase’s great-uncle Frank Chase, who co-founded the Woodstock Artists Association  and Howard Koch who co-wrote the movie Casablanca.  The article points out, and has some pictures of, monuments which are often works of art on their own.

• An article out of Durant, Oklahoma tells about the Bryan County Commissioners taking no action on an application for Green Tree Burial Grounds to establish the first “green cemetery” in the area.  In the application the 12 acre cemetery would plant a tree to mark each burial.  Commissioner Jim Perry, according to the article, urged no action because “when people set up a cemetery in the State of Oklahoma, they plot, they put in roads, they set it up properly”.

• An article in Global News Canada talks about the considerations that must be made in the case of national disasters.  The article talks about what would happen if funeral directors were not able to take care of the deceased. . .who would do that work?  It goes on to talk about a flu pandemic, ebola, or SARS and what funeral homes should prepare for.  Funeral Director Daily take:  If you have never thought about this, it is an interesting exercise to go through.  I was part of a health task force a few years back studying about the Avian Bird flu outbreak and what it would mean if it came to our community.  Just think — if you had 20 times the average number of deaths over a 6 week period — could your staff keep up?  Where would bodies be stored?  Would you have to bring in refrigerated trucks?  What if the disease was very contagious?  Would you not embalm and require cremation?  Like I said — a great exercise to go through and let’s hope we never have to deal with it.[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]