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28
FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1987
of any cemetery owner to lay
claim to making sizable
amounts of money in the
cemetery business. However,
it is possible to make a decent
profit."
Equally possible, some say
easier, for non-profit
cemeteries. And according to
Suzanne Jolicoeur, ad-
ministrator for Cemetery
Regulations in Michigan, no
statute regulates how earn-
ings must be spent by
synagogue-owned cemeteries,
meaning they could be ap-
plied towards other
synagogue endeavors.
Officials at the larger
cemeteries in this category,
like Beth El Memorial and
Clover Hill, say all cemetery-
related income is used ex-
clusively for cemetery opera-
tion or improvement.
It definitely looks like it.
Cemetery directors and
trustees are unfailingly proud
of their memorial parks.
Clover Hill board member
Mandell Berman says,
without qualification, "Ours
is the finest Jewish cemetery
in the district."
Clover Hill is gorgeous:
Fifty-eight acres of lush
lawns, fine, mature trees and
curbed boulevards. The
cemetery is manicured by six
full-time groundskeepers and
up to 30 spring and summer
employees. Clover Hill also
serves as home to Canadian
geese, mallards, raccoon, fox,
quail, possum and the ubi-
quitous skunk.
Currently, Clover Hill is
completing the installation of
a sprinkler system, a ten-year
project described only as
"costly."
Improvements are also
planned at Beth El Memorial.
About a quarter of its 40
acres remain wooded, sur-
rounding an undeveloped
pond. The area will be land-
scaped with foot paths accor-
ding to a design by the
Southfield
architec-
tural/engineering
firm
Harley Ellington Pierce Yee
Associates, perhaps the most
experienced
cemetery
designer in the country.
Competition in the market-
share sense doesn't exist
among most local cemeteries.
Most synagogue-owned burial
grounds limit interments to
members and their families.
And in fact, people generally
choose a particular cemetery
based upon a deceased loved
one already buried there.
But competition hasn't
been totally laid to rest.
Synagogue-owned cemeteries
must still woo their own
membership. "The quality of
our cemetery is in competi-
tion with the quality of
others," explains Clover Hill's
Berman. "We are not
monolithic. People (Shaarey.
Zedek members) can go
wherever they Want."
With that awareness, both
Clover Hill and Beth El speak
about publicity and
marketing within their
respective congregations.
Beth El, for example, has sent
a handsomely produced
brochure to - all its 1,600
families.
"We will probably develop
some further kind of
marketing program for the
memorial park," says Herb
Maistelman, executive direc-
tor of Temple Beth El. "We do
feel it is important because
we're always improving the
site. We simply want the
wherewithal to continue
developing it."
Marketing, even on an in-
ternal level, may become
more important with the ar-
rival of the new kid in town,
B'nai Israel Memorial
Gardens.
"We operate with a dif-
ferent concept altogether:
pre-need," says Ron Resnick,
the Gardens' general
manager: "Our focus is to sell
(burial plots) ahead of time,
when you can make a
reasonable decision in the
right frame of mind."
The pre-need burial con-
tract, which is presently
sweeping the industry, is not
a new concept, especially