May. ‘01
Volume 2.5
Casket
Retailing 
The Newsletter of the National Casket Retailers Association, Inc. http://www.casketstores.com
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Chairman: Kevin
Gray Direct Casket -
Membership News It was decided that the NCRA should
contribute some funds to the
Annual Meeting newsThe NCRA meeting has been tentatively scheduled to occur the weekend of October 19-21, 2001 in Annapolis, Marylandmembers will be contacted by Meridian One, a benefits company for Emery. : Thank you to the org. contact of Precious Memories Casket Co Inc ~email Michael Fortune, Fortune652@aol.com Poetry for caregiver, by caregivers THE CAREGIVER'S ANGEL Angels come in many forms,
and each one serves the Lord.
They teach us lessons of His love and bring His Holy Word
The Importance of a Smile "A SMILE costs nothing, but gives much. It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty, that he can get along without it, and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it. A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in business, and is the countersign of friendship. It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and is nature's best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give." |
and is linked to many sites. From an article taken from one of the sites, //copy/// When one enters a funeral home one enters ill prepared, for this is not a K-Mart or dentist office, places for which one has prior experience and knows "the game." One does not take a number nor pushes a cart down aisles. Nor does one see samples of the quality of work done. Instead, one enters at the mercy of a receptionist, who announces to the staff that another performance is to begin and to "get into role." The prospective customer, unfortunately, knows neither the cues nor the script. She is then introduced to her funeral director. As Turner and Edgley (1975:384) note, "the change of titles from `undertaker' to `funeral director' has been perhaps the largest single clue to the dramaturgical functions the industry now sees itself as performing. He is indeed a `director,' controlling a dramatic production." To make the drama more interesting, recall that this new player is not oneself. Often a significant other's death has just occurred and one has begun feeling the most awesome of emotions: grief. Experiencing feelings that perhaps have never before been felt before and entering the bereavement role, for which one may have no performance expectations, one meets the man who "knows" about such things, the funeral director. Our new widow is then led to a private "counseling" room, a diploma-filled office looking much like that of any health care professional" Rest of this very interesting site is at trinity.edu http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/death-6.html /////Insert YOUR story here! NCRA
likes to write or "copy" news about our members! Email Thelma J. TMOflash@aol.com
Kentucky -
PassedSB 166 - AMENDMENTS SFA (3, L. Casebier) - Delete requirement
that sellers of caskets be licensed, require that sellers of funeral goods
disclose a general price list of funeral goods to customers, authorize
the Kentucky Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors to require disclosure
of information by funeral goods sellers, provide for periodic inspection
of funeral goods sellers, authorize an action for injunctive relief for
failure to disclose prices of funeral goods to consumers. (They had
tried to get passed that only licensed funeral directors or require retail
casket sellers to become licensed funeral establishments- in order to sell
funeral goods. . Had this casket monopolizing legislation passed, consumers
in Kentucky may have been forced to pay higher casket prices in the future.
The biggest factor is the time element in terms of our personnel. Our funeral
directors and staff and facilities must be available 24 hours a day,
every day of the year. Therefore our cost of operation goes on 168
Look for an auction on the NCRA web site as we add dollars to our mission's fund. Click on it from the home page http://www.casketstores.com and check out the goods, at a great prices! Many vendors to choose from , various and brand name as well, all for a worthy cause! Also, check out the Classified page to list or buy! http://www.casketstores.com/classified.htm 4 Press releases from the NCRA & Contacting the press to expose deception press Make use of all pages of the NCRA site!
http://www.casketstores.com/press.htm
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There are more benefits in the works for the NCRA members also. 1) The NARDA Credit Union has accepted
the NCRA membership. They will be doing a mailing shortly to outline all
of the benefits.
The National Casket Retail Association would like to welcome the following new members to our organization. We hope each of you will become an involved member of the NCRA. By working together we can accomplish so much more. Gentle Sleep Caskets,
Maryland
I would like to remind each member if you currently
have a website, please reference |
The
World Wide Web - what growth! (By Betty B.)
TOUGH SELL. As the Internet's reach and interactivity expands, so will small-business demand for online services, Schultz predicts. As he sees it, the challenge is getting such companies to adapt. "It's a group that needs a lot of hand- holding," Burney says. About 2% of the nation's 10 million small companies, including home-based operations, visited an online business center this year and spent about $250 million, Cahners In-Stat estimates. The NCRA has many stores listed in the Directory with a web site, however some stores are not online as of yet. Did you know it really isn't that expensive? A domain name can be bought for $35.00 for the yr - a web server for $24.95 a month (like the 1 offered at the NCRA links pg holding 10 Mgs) with just a $75.00 setup fee and a template for daily changes - you can choose for them to maintain Web Site or You can tackle it and save big. Unlimited modifications 24-hours a day Free online technical support Online training for HTML programming, beginning Internet knowledge, etc. Access to server image libraries for background, separators, and buttons Month-to-month agreement (no long-term commitment) Ability to add, modify, delete unlimited products through a product database. The Networthnet company upkeeps the NCRA site and offers to be at your service too. Just email webmaster with any questions. The site at http://www.netmechanic.com/ is great for checking how your site looks, comes up on search engines or other internet goodies. Recently, 7 new domain name extensions (TLDs) were approved to be registered as web addresses, including .pro, .info, .biz, .name, .aero, .coop, and .museum. HOW IMPORTANT IS "MADE in AMERICA" TO YOU? "I try my best to buy only items that are actually made in America. But it keeps getting harder and harder every year. I don't care what anyone says. NAFTA and GATT are killing this country" Now on to other things. How are companies supposed
to turn a profit any longer, if they are having to compete
with these countries from over seas? Why are these companies
having such a hard time of it? Can we again say NAFTA and GATT?
Look at the steel industry in our country. It's all but gone now.
Why? Because steel companies from Japan and where ever else flooded this
country with cheap steel. Why? Because the government has let them. Then
the steel companies here had to jack their prices up, just to turn a profit.
Just how much money is our country losing on tariffs because of NAFTA
and GATT each year now? How about all of the safety guide lines
these companies have to follow. How many billions of dollars are they having
to spend each year, that companies from these other countries aren't?
How many billions of dollars are companies here in the states having
to pay out every year to make sure they are not polluting the air
to much, while other countries just let the pollution fly?
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your membership to the NCRA as this will expedite efforts to find new members.
There are many different logos to choose from on the NCRA site, that will
match with your site's background.