Saturday, April 24, 1999
Foundation honors tree program
Casket company sponsors planting
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A tree-planting program funded by Batesville Casket Co. is being honored this month by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
The southeast Indiana firm pays the U.S. Forest Service to plant a tree for every retail sale of a Batesville casket or urn.
Company spokesman Joe Weigel said almost 8 million trees have been planted in the 23 years Batesville has supported its Living Memorial program.
The cost, which he would not reveal, is excluded from wholesale prices, he said.
Similarly, tree planting expenses are not passed on to his customers, said Howard Riggs, owner of Craver-Riggs Funeral Home and Crematory in Milford.
Mr. Riggs sells only Batesville caskets and urns and supports the tree program despite what he called the “paperwork burden.” He certifies each sale to Batesville and notifies each family that a tree has been planted.
Mr. Riggs said he participates because it plants trees for future generations and commemorates the dead.
A minor problem, Mr. Riggs said, is that the Forest Service does not say which of 50 species is planted or where.
Similar, smaller programs exist in Australia and Canada where Batesville also sells caskets and urns.
The National Arbor Day Foundation has its own Trees in Memory program and spokes man Gary Brienzo said it spends about $10 to plant 10 seedlings in a national forest. However, he did not know what it cost Batesville to plant a memorial tree here or abroad.
The foundation, in Nebraska City, Neb., also offers 10 trees to individuals who donate at least $10 and join the foundation by Friday. It ships trees directly to donors and guarantees replacements if seedlings fail to thrive.
A Forest Service spokeswoman said its program plants 10 to 15 trees for each $10 donation.
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