As some of you may have heard at the CCA annual meeting, I had a family emergency and could not attend. My husband had been admitted to the hospital. The good news is he is home and recovering. He is getting back to his old self. Second, I want to thank the Board for stepping in so quickly to take over for me. I really appreciate it. I heard the meeting went great and happy we had so many attendees! Thanks to those cemetery members and suppliers for attending.
A shout out to Rose Hill Memorial Park for donating the raffle prizes – thank you! Thank you to those suppliers that also donated. We appreciate your support.
I hope you all enjoyed the 2022 membership directory and will find it useful.
The 2022-2023 budget was approved by the members at the annual meeting. As was explained at the meeting, our goal for the upcoming fiscal year is to improve our website and add e-commerce capabilities. We are going to start interviewing companies and will then retain the services of a company that will meet our needs. We will keep you updated as to our progress.
Other next steps are to get the forms out by late December so you can renew your membership with CCA. Our membership was down 6% from last year and we want to get our numbers up! Please help us do that. If you know of other cemeteries that are not a part of CCA, reach out to them. Or let me know and I will reach out to them. Same applies to our supplier members.
Please make sure you take a minute and read the message from Karl Hunter of SavATree in this newsletter. I asked Karl to write a short article thinking he would submit something regarding his business. Instead, I received something completely different. His article is what CCA is about.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families.
Best,
Maureen Crick Owen
CONNECTICUT CEMETERY ASSOCIATION, INC. ANNUAL MEETING Written by Lisa Vaeth and Dale J. Fiore
The annual meeting of the Connecticut Cemetery Association, Inc. was held on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at Casa Mia at the Hawthorne in Berlin, CT. There were about sixty CCA members and suppliers in attendance for the annual business meeting which included an informative program on columbariums (Photo, Board of Directors Member James Randall at the Raffle Table. Credit: Charlotte Maher).
In the absence of CCA’s President Maureen Crick Owen due to a family emergency, CCA’s Vice President Lisa Vaeth opened the annual meeting. We were thrilled to see familiar faces as well as welcoming new members that each had an opportunity to introduce themselves. The suppliers all then introduced themselves and a brief overview of the services their company provides.
The President’s and Treasurer’s reports were shared with the members in detail. Past President Dale Fiore ran the election of Officers and Directors. Our new budget was reviewed and passed (Photo, Past President Dale J. Fiore, Credit: Charlotte Maher) – we are looking forward to implementing the new initiatives including a website overall as well as the capability of accepting credit card payments in the future for dues and events. Dale Fiore presented our revised Bylaws which was approved.
Election of Officers and Directors Officers Elected:
President Maureen Crick Owen, Newtown Village Cemetery Association
Vice President Lisa Vaeth, Association of Jewish Cemeteries
Treasurer Anthony Puglisi, Evergreen Cemetery and Crematory
Secretary Pamela Brown, Hillside Cemetery
Directors Elected:
Anthony Puglisi, Evergreen Cemetery and Crematory; Term 10/01/2022 – 09/30/2025
Mark Johnson, South End Burying Grounds; Term 10/01/2022 – 09/30/2025
Directors Continuing in Office:
Pamela Brown, Hillside Cemetery; Term ends 09/30/2023
J.H. Torrance Downes, Cypress Cemetery; Term ends 09/30/2023
Charlotte Maher, Mountain View Cemetery; term ends 09/30/2023
Maureen Crick Owen, Newtown Village Cemetery Association; term ends 09/30/2023
James Randall, Rose Hill Memorial Park; term ends 09/30/2023
William Raffone, Catholic Cemetery Association; term ends 09/23/2024
Lisa Vaeth, Association of Jewish Cemeteries; term ends 09/30/2024
Dale J. Fiore, Evergreen Cemetery and Crematory; term ends when current president is no longer president
Supplier Liaisons:
Chris Gehrke, Cooperative Funeral Fund, Inc.
Doak Marasco, Davey Tree Expert Company
Cremation Trends/Statistics & Columbarium Costs/Revenue Program
Bill Wilson, Executive Account Engineer from Watertown Engineering of Whitman, MA began the program with slide photographs of some of the styles and types of columbaria that Watertown can design and install in your cemetery.
The location of a columbarium is the most important factor when considering the purchase of a unit and room to expand in the future. An income revenue flyer was distributed to the attendees showing everyone that there is a potential to double your initial investment from the sale of niches and inurnments.
The second portion of the program presented by CCA Past President Dale J. Fiore began with cremation statistics provided by The Cremation Association of North America, showing that the current cremation rate in Connecticut is 62% with a projection of 73% by the year 2031.
Following numerous slides of the columbarium cremation garden project at the Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Dale provided the costs associated when building their columbarium and other offerings that can generate income when niches are sold such as, inurnment fees, lettering and requests for flowers.
At the conclusion of the program, there was time for questions and answers. Many attendees had questions which the presenters answered.
I wanted to take a moment and echo Dale Fiore’s thoughts from the Annual Meeting; “Make the most of your Connecticut Cemetery Association Membership”. We are all here because we understand the challenges of working on or with a cemetery. While many of you have been doing this for years, others are just getting started. I hope all of you at the Annual Meeting picked up a copy of the 2022 membership directory. If you have not received one, reach out and get your copy. A great deal of work goes into producing the membership directory and I would encourage you to use it. Look up other cemetery members in your area and reach out to introduce yourself. Members are here to learn and to help each other. A problem you are facing might be something another member has already dealt with. Reach out, get advice and guidance.
The same goes for Supplier Members as well. We are CCA supplier members because we understand the challenges that come with a cemetery - working around the monuments, being respectful of burials, visitors, and tight budgets. Some supplier members only work with cemeteries. Look up supplier members, call them and ask questions. We want to help and can guide you in the right direction. Are you interested in landscaping? A new columbarium? Tree care? Contact supplier members and see who can help. Supplier members are proud to support the CCA!
In closing, make use of the Membership Directory and the CCA web site. These tools can help support you in managing your cemetery. Make the most of your membership by using the tools and meetings that the Connecticut Cemetery Association provides.
I look forward to seeing all of you at the 2023 Suppliers Expo! Sincerely,
Karl Hunter
CT licensed Arborist for SavATree and a proud CCA supplier member
The annual meeting of the Connecticut Cemetery Association, Inc. was held on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at Casa Mia at the Hawthorne in Berlin, CT. There were about sixty CCA members and suppliers in attendance for the annual business meeting which included an informative program on columbariums (Photo, Board of Directors Member James Randall at the Raffle Table. Credit: Charlotte Maher). 
The President’s and Treasurer’s reports were shared with the members in detail. Past President Dale Fiore ran the election of Officers and Directors. Our new budget was reviewed and passed (Photo, Past President Dale J. Fiore, Credit: Charlotte Maher) – we are looking forward to implementing the new initiatives including a website overall as well as the capability of accepting credit card payments in the future for dues and events. Dale Fiore presented our revised Bylaws which was approved.
I wanted to take a moment and echo Dale Fiore’s thoughts from the Annual Meeting; “Make the most of your Connecticut Cemetery Association Membership”. We are all here because we understand the challenges of working on or with a cemetery. While many of you have been doing this for years, others are just getting started. I hope all of you at the Annual Meeting picked up a copy of the 2022 membership directory. If you have not received one, reach out and get your copy. A great deal of work goes into producing the membership directory and I would encourage you to use it. Look up other cemetery members in your area and reach out to introduce yourself. Members are here to learn and to help each other. A problem you are facing might be something another member has already dealt with. Reach out, get advice and guidance.
