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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

A public park for ashes? As cremations soar, demand for scatter gardens grows.

Jennifer Beman wants to spend her death where she made her life, in her adopted home town of Takoma Park. Like others who have their cremated remains unofficially scattered in the Maryland city’s back yards and public parks, the 54-year-old likes the ashes-to-ashes idea of lingering eternally in her local ecosystem.

But Beman and a group of like-minded neighbors are going a step further than the kind of DIY ash-tossing that has grown common as cremation rates in the United States have doubled over the past 15 years. They are asking their city to set up the country’s first municipal “scatter garden,” a patch of memorial commons where residents could commingle in the soil of their burg — and where families could return to remember.

“Throwing them in the ocean is very romantic, but then there is no place for a person to go back to,” said Beman, a documentary filmmaker. “You can go with your kids and say, ‘I think it was somewhere around here, but maybe it was on the other side of the island.’ I like the idea of a real place.”

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

How utterly asinine. If you want a place like this then buy some property yourself Sponge Wantmore Handout Beman and open an ashes garden. These people are disgusting and a disgrace and if they had an ounce of a decent upbringing would be ashamed of themselves. Nothing but losers always looking for the government to give them something.

Anonymous said...

Who are you to tell anyone they are disgraceful? What is your major malfunction other than the inability to think for yourself?

Anonymous said...

3:15 I will call anyone I deem disgraceful-disgraceful anytime I please and you better not ever ever ever EVER forget it. Do you understand! You better. And how about instead of attempting to insult why don't you come back with why you think the comment is off base. You obviously without any doubts are the one with the inability to think. The country is sick and tired of the want more's sponges who want everything handed to them like this skank Beman. Let private business construct and open such a park and people can pay to scatter the ashes. Let Beman open it herself instead of running around with her hand out looking for another freebie. She's a disgrace.

Anonymous said...

dan said it would be like this

Anonymous said...

Mix the ashes with concrete and make a skatepark! It's a win/win!!

Anonymous said...

So you scatter your loved ones ashes here so they can be walked on by everyone else that comes to visit? I feel sorry for the people that live next to this park. A stiff wind and you will have debris in your yard or coming in your windows!

Anonymous said...

It must be really lonely in 3:58's world where he/she thinks that he/she can dictate what others can and can't do. If it is a money issue for you, consider the fact that communities build dog parks and not everyone owns a dog. They build playground and not everyone has children. Or maybe it is a religious issue. If that is the case please be advised that your religion is not the only religion and in this country people have the freedom of religion. Either way, please inform me as the the location of where you will be interned so that I visit and leave you a tribute.

Anonymous said...

I'm having my ashes spread under an oak tree that is next to my favorite trout stream in western Maryland. I spent many an hour there in peach while here on earth so it seems fitting to spend eternity there watching others fish for trout and relax for a while.

Anonymous said...

Catholic Church says dont split up or mix up cremains. Keep all together.

Anonymous said...

Catholic church also says gay sex is wrong but after years in the seminary, some priests still molest boys.

Anonymous said...

There are LAWS AGAINST this! You are allowed to spread remains on PRIVATE PROPERTY only LEGALLY! Look it up! Remains aren't only ashes!