Burial ground’s dedication draws nearly 100
By Andrew Tutino, Ithaca Journal
NEWFIELD — The cold wind whipped through Sam Hernandez’s long black hair and pushed off his cap that advertised the Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve of Newfield. Greensprings officially opened for business Sunday, though no one was buried. Instead, the people who worked to make the natural burial ground a reality here held a dedication ceremony that attracted close to 100 interested people.
Hernandez’s cap fell next to one of hundreds of tiny red flags that dot the landscape of New York’s first natural cemetery, the fifth in the nation. Hernandez, who is the caretaker, was explaining to a visitor how each burial section is set up: four tiny flags mark 15-foot-by-15-foot plots that will one day — hundreds of years from now — hopefully be covered by natural growth.
Many who braved the unseasonably cold May temperatures, rain and a powerful wind, shared a common belief: In order to complete the cycle of life after death, a proper burial must be natural, sans embalming fluids, coffins and gravestones. Greensprings officials want people to be buried in simple wooden boxes, similar to the ones used before coffins came into fashion.
The market for such a burial might be considered niche by some standards, but it exists in Tompkins County.
“It has always been a curiosity of mine,” said Jenny Fitzgerald, a 17-year-old Ithaca
woman who enjoys the outdoors and tries to be environmentally conscious. “I think it is a great idea to sort of represent yourself in a natural way when you go — especially for people who are interested in nature to be represented in a more natural way than just a tombstone with your name and birth date. I think that is sortof boring actually.”
The people who formed the Greensprings Natural Cemetery Association Inc. are hoping the idea takes off here.
The cemetery association purchased about 93 acres of land for $68,000 from Herb Engman in November, according to the Tompkins County Department of Assessment. The association has also worked out a lease agreement with Engman for a 528-square-foot cabin where the caretaker lives. Eventually, the association
hopes to purchase that structure.
After waiting about a year for state Supreme Court to approve the deal and close on the property, the cemetery is ready for interments.
“It is not just a place to be buried, said Mary Woodsen, the president of the cemetery association. “We do not want this to be used for just memorials or funerals. It could be used for weddings or other affirming activities and we would likefor this to take off with people not only in New York, but also with people in other parts of the northeast and North America. We want people to think of this as a last both useful and beautiful gesture they can make and have it be one small thing they can do that is good for the earth, their families and their community.”
So far, the association has sold about 25 of the plots at a cost of about $500 each, though there is a discount for purchasing multiple gravesites. Woodsen said the association wants to slowly grow its operation and eventually hire an executive director.
Sunday’s event drew the curious, people interested in purchasing plots and funeral directors checking out one of the future ways people will be buried in Tompkins County.
“It changes things,” said Kirk Shreve, a funeral director and owner of the Lansing Funeral Home. “In terms of when we have a traditional service, most families chose for an earth burial and chose preparations and so forth. This particular location
prescribes to no preparation whatsoever.
It is a neat approach, especially for this market locally. There are a lot of people who don’t adhere to the normal, traditional funeral desires. It is just a matter of time before each of our funeral homes start to serve families who chose this.”
If Greensprings becomes a person’s final resting place, their families will eventually find plots that have either small gravestones or none at all. Small metal markings are used to identify the plots and once nature takes over the land again, people will have to use metal detectors to find some plots, said
Hernandez, the caretaker.
Source - http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060522/NEWS01/605220323/1002