Spring 2017
IN THIS ISSUE: ▪ NEW: 2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey
▪ FCA of MN Booth at TC PRIDE June 24 & 25 ▪ Volunteers Needed ▪ MN Threshold Network June Forum ▪ National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA) Conference | Sept. 22-24, 2017 ▪ FCA of MN Update: Green Cremation ▪ Thank You For Your Support ▪ Subscribe to the FCA of MN Newsletter |
NEW:
2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota has conducted a new price survey of Direct Cremation in the Twin Cities metro area. The survey updates our 2015 survey to reflect current prices, and adds two new online cremation arrangement providers.
Go to our 2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey page where you'll find Direct Cremation FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). |
When you choose Direct Cremation, you are choosing a service which only minimally involves the services of a funeral home's staff and the use of the funeral home facility.
Our 2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey compares apples to apples - the exact same set of services offered as a package for a single price and called Direct Cremation. Instead of surveying all cremation service providers in the Twin Cities area, we've listed only the 10 lowest priced Direct Cremation packages. We've done the shopping so you don't have to.
We hope you'll find the 2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey a useful reference when planning after death arrangements for yourself, or for a family member or friend.
NOTE: Some funeral homes use the term "Basic Cremation" or "Immediate Cremation." We use the most commonly used term - "Direct Cremation."
Our 2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey compares apples to apples - the exact same set of services offered as a package for a single price and called Direct Cremation. Instead of surveying all cremation service providers in the Twin Cities area, we've listed only the 10 lowest priced Direct Cremation packages. We've done the shopping so you don't have to.
We hope you'll find the 2017 Direct Cremation Price Survey a useful reference when planning after death arrangements for yourself, or for a family member or friend.
NOTE: Some funeral homes use the term "Basic Cremation" or "Immediate Cremation." We use the most commonly used term - "Direct Cremation."
UPCOMING EVENT:
FCA of MN Booth at Twin Cities PRIDE Festival June 24/25
For the second year in a row, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Minnesota (FCA of MN) will have a booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival June 24 & 25, 2017.
The location - as always - is Loring Park on the edge of downtown Minneapolis, across Hennepin Avenue from the Sculpture Garden. Festival admission is free. The Twin Cities PRIDE Festival, one of the largest Summer events in the Twin Cities, features over 400 exhibitors, 40 food and beverage booths, and 300,000+ visitors in this annual celebration. |
As we did last year, FCA of MN will hold a free drawing for a chance to win one of several cremation urns. Urns have been donated by Minnesota-based cremation urn sellers and local funeral homes.
FREE DRAWING
Enter to win a
Cremation Urn
Stop by our booth
With over 400 exhibitors, it can be a challenge finding the booth your looking for at Loring Park. A TC Pride map will be available to help you locate exhibitors. It will not only list all exhibitors, it will color code the section of Loring Park the exhibit booth is located in. The FCA of MN booth will be located in the section TC Pride calls Boomertown.
Come visit our booth and say hello.
With over 400 exhibitors, it can be a challenge finding the booth your looking for at Loring Park. A TC Pride map will be available to help you locate exhibitors. It will not only list all exhibitors, it will color code the section of Loring Park the exhibit booth is located in. The FCA of MN booth will be located in the section TC Pride calls Boomertown.
Come visit our booth and say hello.
The FCA of MN Booth will be in the upper triangle of the park.
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The FCA of MN booth at the 2016 Twin Cities PRIDE Festival.
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Volunteers Needed: PRIDE Festival June 24/25
FCA of MN needs 4 - 5 volunteers to help us staff our booth at this year's Twin Cities PRIDE Festival the weekend of June 24/25.
Two people are needed to staff the booth 10 AM - 6 PM Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM Sunday We hope to schedule volunteers for a two-hour block of time, but we'll welcome you if you have only an hour to spare. An FCA of MN board member will be on hand at all times to answer questions about after death options and planning. Contact us at info@fcaofmn.org to help. |
UPCOMING EVENT:
Minnesota Threshold Network June Forum: Green Burial
From our friends at the Minnesota Threshold Network (MTN):
We hope you can attend our annual June public forum, this year focusing on green burial. Join us for a mock graveside service and green burial; learn more about current options and regulations around green burial; share stories and ideas.
The Minnesota Threshold Network advocates family-directed after-death care, including home vigils and green burial choices.
We hope you can attend our annual June public forum, this year focusing on green burial. Join us for a mock graveside service and green burial; learn more about current options and regulations around green burial; share stories and ideas.
The Minnesota Threshold Network advocates family-directed after-death care, including home vigils and green burial choices.
WHAT:
MTN Annual June Forum: Green Burial Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 7:00 PM WHEN: Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 7:00 PM WHERE: Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco-Gardens 8225 Argenta Trail, Inver Grove Heights 55077 (between Highway 55 and 149) This event is free and open to the public. Donations welcome to help the Minnesota Threshold Network continue its work. |
ANNOUNCEMENT:
National Home Funeral Alliance Conference
The National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA) announces its 6th biennial conference:
- WHEN: September 22-24, 2017 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
- WHERE: Reisterstown, Maryland (one hour north of Washington, DC)
- VENUE: Pearlstone Center, an environmentally-friendly conference and retreat center nestled in 160-acres of pasture, woods and farmland in the Maryland countryside just outside of Baltimore.
The National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA) is the leading organization in the United States for home after-death care support and education. NHFA members come from 45 states, five provinces, and seven countries.
FCA of MN Update: Green Cremation
Articles on alkaline hydrolysis, also known as Green Cremation, frequently pop up in the news, usually when this or that state is considering legislation to make the process legal. (Currently, alkaline hydrolysis as a method for the disposition of a dead human body is legal in only 14 states.)
Alkaline Hydrolysis is arriving soon in the UK, and BBC World News has just published a long, 4000+ word article on the process, featuring Bradshaw's Celebration of Life Center in Stillwater, the first commercially available Green Cremation facility in Minnesota. The article is richly illustrated with photographs, videos, and the best graphic illustration of the alkaline hydrolysis process we've seen yet (see below).
The article is called Dissolving the Dead: A radical alternative to burial and cremation. It's well worth a look.
One Correction
The article contains one glaring error:
In some states - including Minnesota - a casket is rented to display a body before it is sent for cremation, which is standard practice with alkaline hydrolysis.
This is not standard practice. In the vast majority of cases, the body is NOT embalmed and displayed in a casket - rental or otherwise - before the cremation process.
Alkaline Hydrolysis is arriving soon in the UK, and BBC World News has just published a long, 4000+ word article on the process, featuring Bradshaw's Celebration of Life Center in Stillwater, the first commercially available Green Cremation facility in Minnesota. The article is richly illustrated with photographs, videos, and the best graphic illustration of the alkaline hydrolysis process we've seen yet (see below).
The article is called Dissolving the Dead: A radical alternative to burial and cremation. It's well worth a look.
One Correction
The article contains one glaring error:
In some states - including Minnesota - a casket is rented to display a body before it is sent for cremation, which is standard practice with alkaline hydrolysis.
This is not standard practice. In the vast majority of cases, the body is NOT embalmed and displayed in a casket - rental or otherwise - before the cremation process.
Thank you for your support.
Why Support Us?
FCA of MN is your information resource for after death planning. We provide objective facts about after death planning so you can choose a goodbye that's right for you. Through our website, presentations, price surveys, and the personal care we take when you call or email us, we strive to bring you a breadth and depth of information about after death choices you won't find any place else. |
If this website - and the work we do - has helped you, please consider a donation of $10, $20, $30 (or more) so that our non-profit, all-volunteer organization can continue this work.
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