When it comes to end-of-life rituals, many consumers are no longer content with one-size-fits-all funerals. From home burials and biodegradable coffins to having their ashes rocketed into space, more and more families and individuals are taking a personalized approach to the rites surrounding death and dying. But it takes planning in advance to be buried in your own back yard or to have a coffin custom-made by a skilled Vermont craftsman. We talk about the pros and cons of various options with Randy Garner, a funeral director from Randolph, and with Joshua Slocum, Executive Director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national funeral-industry watchdog group.(Listen)
Also on the program, fighting racism in Brattleboro. The issue has been front-and-center in this southern Vermont community since last spring when a racial hate group surfaced at Brattleboro Union High School.We talk with Brattleboro Reformer reporter Chris Garofolo and with high school principal Jim Day about what’s being done to prevent future problems. (Listen)
And we continue our series of audio postcards from Vermont with a visit to Swanton. Because of its Abenaki heritage, it claims to be the state’s oldest continuously inhabited town. (Listen)
Photo: A handmade white pine coffin made by Vermont Coffins of East Calais