If you are considering cremation, make sure you know the ordinances in your community. Throughout the United States, towns can pass their own ordinances regarding the scattering of cremated remains in public places.

One man in Pittsburgh wanted his cremated remains to be scattered on the Schenley Park golf course, which is a public course located adjacent to the University of Pittsburgh. The City's ordinanances do not allow the scattering of remains at such locations. His surviving spouse selected a "golf ball" urn for the placement of his remains. She then purchased a space in the mausoleum of a cemetery located near the golf course.

To learn more about cremation, visit our website www.cmsmidatlantic.com.

Near Galilee, a 12,000-year-old funeral feast was found.

According to a posting at gather.com, researchers in Israel found "human skeletons that were buried there in specific depressions, one with parts of various animals. Such odd bits as a leopard pelvis and eagle's wingtip were found. That combination of items and the collection of animal remains suggests the people who lived in the area at the time gathered there for special rituals to commemmorate the burial of the dead."

Read more at http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978489593

People continue to choose cremation at an increasing rate. Last year, the cremation rate in the United States reached 37 percent an almost 10 percent increase from 2000. Why?

Attitudes are changing. People are more open to cremation.

Some people see cremation as a cost-effective alternative to burial.

A growing number of people see cremation as environmentally friendly.

The Findlay Courier is reporting that a new environmentally friendly casket company may be opening in Findlay, Ohio. Continental Metals (Gibraltar,  Michigan) is looking to open a Care Caskets manufacturing facility that would produce wooden caskets from re-claimed lumber including oak, cherry, pine and ash.

Residents of New Orleans' St. Bernard Parish are burying their Hurricane Katrina burdens by placing notes about their memories in a special casket that will be buried in a serice next week.

Many other observances will be take place this weekend in the New Orleans area.

While most people stopped listening to vinyl records many years ago with the advent of cassette tapes and compact discs, they are making a comeback today as some people who choose cremation elect to have their cremated remains pressed into vinyl records.

A company in the United Kingdom is offering packages for people and pets. The packages offer 12 minutes of audio for each side of the record and a customized label with the birth and death dates of the deceased. 

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Benedictine monks at St. Joseph Abbey in Louisiana could be sent to jail for up to three months because by handcrafting pine caskets they are violating a Louisiana law which states that only licensed funeral directors may sell funeral merchandise.

The 36 months involved in the conflict are fighting back. They filed a federal lawsuit to try to overturn the law stating that it violates their right to "pursue a gainful occupation."

Funeral directors in Louisiana have a different position. According to the WSJ article Leonard Dunn, the owner of Serenity Funeral home is reported as saying that the monks are "cutting into our profit." The article also includes a quote from Mr. Dunn that reads, "I don't think the monks are actually making the caskets—I think it's a marketing gimmick."

Another funeral director quoted in the article, Boyd Mothe Jr., from Mothe Funeral Homes outside of New Orleans, said that Louisiana's law should remain on the books because licensed directors have the training to sell caskets..." In the article, Mr. Mothe sited an example that "a quarter of America is oversized. I don't even know if the monks know how to make an oversized casket."

Not all funeral directors share the opinions of Mr. Dunn and Mr. Mothe. In the article, Darin Bordelon, the owner of LaVille Funeral Home in Ville Platte, La., said that the state board should be ashamed of its campaign against the monks. He said, "They're making us all look greedy."

To read the full story, visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575448083489852328.html?KEYWORDS=caskets