March 21, 2008

How to Give Effective Directions By Calvin Sun

The late novelist and poet, Ogden Nash, coined the famous phrase, “You can’t get there from here.” The problem, however, is that often people do need to get somewhere from somewhere else.

Your client families need to get to your location in order to conduct business. Funeral attendees need to get from the funeral location to the cemetery. If they get lost or have trouble finding their destination, it’s a problem, especially at such a trying time as a funeral.

Here are some tips on giving better directions. These tips apply regardless of whether they are written on a sheet of paper and given personally to an individual or are published on a Web site. In fact, they may work even if the driver is the kind who won’t stop for directions. click here to download a pdf of the full story...

Teens Who Vandalized Cemetery Get Light Sentence

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - The four teenage boys who admitted toppling 499 gravestones at Poile Zedek Cemetery were sentenced March 17 but received no jail time.

The four teens - ages 15 to 17 - will each serve 18 months probation and are each responsible for amounts of $2,500 - $5,000 in restitution. According to Caryn Lipson, synagogue administrator, the congregation currently estimates about $200,000 to repair the cemetery; however the actual damages would have been much higher if not for volunteer assistance, economies of scale by having one company do much of the work at once, and by the kindness of that company in reducing its fee due to the circumstances, she said. read more...

Body Parts Kingpin Pleads Guilty; Two Others Indicted

NEW YORK - The mastermind behind a $4.6 million scheme that plundered corpses of body parts pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court on March 18 to body stealing, enterprise corruption and reckless endangerment and could face a prison sentence of 18 to 54 years under a plea deal, the Newark Star Ledger reported.

Two New Jersey funeral home directors were also indicted in the scheme. Stephen Finley of Funeraria Santa Cruz in Newark, and Robert Maitner Jr., formerly of Maitner Cremation Services in Belleville, illegally profited from the scheme, according to prosecutors. They have not yet been charged. read more...

American Blue Book Hires New Manager; Meet Yadira!

We are thrilled to announce that Yadira Defilippo, who previously worked with us as a circulation assistant for five years, has rejoined the company as the coordinator for the American Blue Book of Funeral Service, our all-inclusive shipping directory that has helped funeral directors boost their shipping business since 1932. Yadira previously worked as a circulation manager at Ascend Media. At Kates Boylston, she will be in charge of advertising, customer relations and the daily maintenance of American Blue Book. To place an advertisement in Blue Book, or just to welcome Yadira aboard, give her a call at 732-730-2581 or contact her by email at ydefilippo@katesboylston.com. Find out more about the American Blue Book here.