Art, jazz and wedding vows: Funeral homes evolve as families choose burial alternatives

Drawn by the prospects of hip-hop, R&B and gospel acts alongside food and jewelry vendors, a chipper group of women were eager to get to a festival on a recent bright Sunday in Butler-Tarkington.

“I thought it would be fun. It's a nice, sunny day,”  Rachel Filskov said as they sauntered west on 38th Street, sans sidewalk, along the walls of Crown Hill Cemetery, 700 38th St.

In spite of the difficulty in finding an entrance, the group was determined to make it to the fun. When a bent rod presented itself, one by one the women squeezed through the gate. Into the cemetery. For the festival.

Who parties amongst the dead?

Well, most recently in Indianapolis it was the attendees hauling their lawn chairs to enjoy the sounds of The Tony Bryant Project, Native Sun and other performers at the Fall Festival at Crown Hill.

But it won’t be the last community event happening at Crown Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery, where a long list of notables such as gangster John Dillinger and President Benjamin Harrison are buried. A family Halloween party is taking place there later this month with a DJ, costume contests and a hayride.

The announcement of the free Oct. 15 trick-or-treat event at Crown Hill was met with some consternation, as folks mistakenly believed that it would take place among the gravesites.

It wouldn’t. A trunk-or-treating component, with folks handing out treats from the trunks of decorated cars, will take place in the parking lot of the funeral home. Snacks will be served in the celebration hall that typically hosts repass gatherings. The hayride will be on the paved roads of the cemetery.

It's an event that has taken place annually for at least 10 years, but last month was the first time it was promoted via Facebook and billed as a community "Graveyard Bash."

Find art, parties and all that jazz at funeral homes and graveyards

“Apparently the name is what is throwing people off and making them think that we're having some kind of wild party in the cemetery and we are not,” said Crystal King, communications coordinator. “We’re not disrespectful to families and we never have been.”

Looking to strengthen community ties and pressured by shifts to less costly service options, funeral homes and cemeteries are hosting more festive cultural and community events unrelated to death. Many are being constructed to accommodate major life events such as weddings and high school graduations.

Events centered around almost any interest — from bird watching to stargazing to art shows — can be found at the facilities around the globe.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles hosts outdoor classic film screenings, concerts and comedy shows.  New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery and Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia also screens movies. Washington, D.C.’s  Congressional Cemetery has a book club and hosts comedy shows. And a Hammond, Louisiana, funeral home has a program that shares fresh produce with its guests of and the needy in the community as well as local food banks, senior centers churches and nursing homes.

Such programs give the public an opportunity to get to know the funeral home staff and can hopefully make them more comfortable in approaching the businesses when they are needed for services, said Jessica Koth, of the National Funeral Directors Association.

“We've seen some incredible community outreach programs that help bring people to the funeral home for an event that is not funeral-related. Funeral homes develop these kinds of events, not only to be supportive of the communities they serve but also to help people get to know their staff and see that they are human beings who can take off their suits and have fun,” Koth said. “And hopefully, when an individual does experience the death of a loved one, they will feel a bit more comfortable visiting the funeral home and meeting with a funeral director to plan a service. “

Reaching out to community

While the Halloween event is long-running, the Crown Hill’s Fall Festival, which brought out about two dozen vendors and food trucks, is a new offering — actually the repurposing of a Juneteenth celebration that was postponed due to rain.

A Black History Month program is in the works. And a fashion show or speakers series might be in the offing, King said.

“We're just trying to bring a new focus and bring more community access to Crown Hill so that people are not just looking at it as a funeral home or just a cemetery; but as a place where you can come and enjoy different events,” King said.

Family congregations at cemeteries beyond burials are far from new. Cemeteries have hosted homecomings for the families of the deceased. And they've long been sites of community walks or runs coordinated by outside organizations.

But weddings and graduation parties have been more recent occurrences on the grounds.

With its large windows and a view of a lake and fountain, Sahar Atmar thought the new center at Prairie Waters Event Center at Hamilton Memorial Park Cemetery in Westfield was perfect for her high school graduation party last July.

Her family just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a hearse parked out front on the day of the event. The 300 guests, who took up space inside and on the patio, never saw the cemetery portion, Atmar said.

“I was quite picky with what I was doing with the party. I really wanted it to be special,” she said. “If I thought it looked like a funeral home, I definitely wouldn’t have told my mom to go see it.”

It helped that the building had so many accents in blue, she said and required little decoration other than some balloons up front for her needs. The Zionsville Community High School alumnus wanted the decor to reflect Butler University, where she is a freshman student.

“The place was already so beautiful. We didn’t want to overdo it,” she said.

That was the idea with the opening of Prairie Waters last fall, said Bruce Buchanan, owner of Flanner Buchanan Funeral Centers, which operates 17 funeral homes in the Indianapolis area.

Flanner Buchanan is an industry pioneer in using properties for more festive events. It’s been doing public events for 30 years – a jazz concert series drew about 3,500 people at a time –  and opened the 20,000 square feet Community Life Center at Washington Park East Cemetery in Indianapolis in 2001 to host community events and weddings. That center has hosted as many as 100 weddings in a year.

Most of its newer facilities – built since 1995 –  were constructed as event centers, designed with multipurpose rooms and carrying liquor licenses. They focus more on indoor activities such as weddings, community events and family gatherings than outdoor activities

“We’re changing with the times and we tried to get ahead of the curve,” Buchanan said.

No hard sells

As more folks opt for cremations there are fewer traditional funerals, Buchanan said. People are also moving to shorter funerals, he said. Instead of the two days of wakes and services that were typical  25 years ago, more often survivors are going with the service and calling within two to four hours.

“It's getting harder for the small operator to make it between inflation and rising interest rates. Cremation having an impact, on your contract value,” Buchanan said.

But there's no hard sell during the community events.

Peter Hartwell heard the announcements about preplanning while sitting in a tent at Crown Hill's Fall Festival, but felt no pressure surrounded by family and a spread of food and wine. He has relatives buried there.

He said when he worked at the Indianapolis Children's Museum nearby he'd often come to the cemetery to enjoy lunch and looked forward to watching the leaves change there.

"This is my Brown County," he said.

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter:@cherylvjackson.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis funeral homes ready to book your ... party?