Christa Ovenell will be a guest speaker at the Death Education Fair, April 3 at 1–3:30 p.m. in the Quadra Community Centre.
Those who listen to CBC Radio may have heard the informative and engaging interviews on North by Northwest by Sheryl MacKay with Christa Ovenell of Death’s Apprentice.
Ovenell will give a short talk in Room 3 at 1 p.m. on “The four pillars of holistic advance planning” and during the Fair provide information and answer questions about Aquamation.
The Death Education Fair is about bringing death back into the stream of life, into our community. For this to happen we need to think about death, talk about it, have conversations, and educate ourselves. If people knew about the options available to them, many would choose to approach death in ways that are healthier and more enriching, as well as more natural and affordable, than our usual practices.
Main Hall: Visit the many tables – Estate Planning, Legacies, Advance Care Planning, MAID, Aging on Quadra, Learning to Die, Campbell River Hospice Society, Grief and Loss, Community-Led Death Care, Quadra Island Cemetery Society, Shrouds, Cremation & Aquamation, Pure Joy Threshold Singers, Suicide and Grief, Meaningful Memorials, and Way to Go. In the centre will be a lovely “In Remembrance” table, where you can place pictures of your deceased loved ones.
1:00 Christa Ovenell in Room 3
1:30: Introduction to each table
3:20: Pure Joy Threshold Singers present a blessing for the “In Remembrance” table.
On the Stage: Decorate a box with words or pictures you’d like someone to place on your casket. Create an expression of your grief to add to the “In Remembrance” table.
Room 3: “Being Tender with Death” – 1 p.m. The four pillars of holistic advance planning – 1:30 p.m. Introductions in main hall – 2 p.m. Helping a community member die at home and have a natural burial – 2:30 p.m. Befriending my future death and return to the earth – 2:50 p.m. From a death at home to a natural burial, interspersed between sessions with songs from the Threshold Choir.
Green Room: From 2–3:15, visit the Death Café for tea and cookies, and have conversations about death, dying, and grief with prompting questions.
The intent of the fair is to expand your horizons; to bring awareness to resources, or possibilities, or practices, you may not even have known were options. The emphasis is on local and on education; local people, local knowledge, becoming aware of what you can do for yourself and in community. It’s about questions and conversations, and becoming just a little more comfortable in our relationship with death.
You will be asked to show your vaccine passport at the door.