By Rose Kelley
RHCC Board Member
I retired 11 years ago after a very satisfying 34-year career as an elementary school media specialist and teacher of gifted students. I always thought that I would pursue a degree in Women’s Studies or Native American Studies when I retired because I have always loved researching and learning new information. Little did I know that I would instead be taking an intensive course for natural burial cemetery operators called The Green Burial Masterclass designed by Holly Blue Hawkins and Lee Webster. There are twelve modules in the course: history, law, technology, ecological documentation, communication, memorialization, grave operations, environmental impact & conservation plans, green products, starting a cemetery, best business practices and ethics and critical thinking.
Over the next year, I plan to offer a tiny piece of one module per newsletter. It’s a ridiculous goal to set for myself because there are so many insights in each segment-beautiful quotes, mind-blowing new ideas about natural death care, statistics galore, and inspirational ideas that just cause me to say “wow”. I hope that you will find something of value in my newsletter columns as together we actively create a natural burial option for the Red Hills region.
“We are here to explore solutions that offer up our dead as nourishing and restorative gifts to this fragile ecosystem we call home, within a framework of skillful means that include both the human and ecologically sensitive circumstances in which we find ourselves.” – Holly Blue Hawkins
Hickory Preserve Background Information
Experiments in Controlling Coral Ardisia (Part 1)
Experiments in Controlling Coral Ardisia (Part 2)