Walton’s Funeral Home Tour

Date: November 19th, 2015

Time: 5:30pm to 7:30pm

Where: 875 W 2nd St, Reno, NV 89503

The Partnership Care Program between Solace Tree and Walton’s Funerals & Cremations will soon be a reality.  This program has been put together so that we may educate children of all ages about the death, ceremonial and healing process. We believe by allowing school age children and their parents or guardians to come into our Walton’s Reno location to have fellowship (food), conversation (Q&A) and a tour of our facility, so as to dispel the fear and unknown about the cycle of death and our industry, we can better serve our community. Port of Subs will be providing snacks and Walton’s will provide drinks.

Walton’s Funeral Home Tour

Objectives:

  1. You are encouraged to experience your own grieving associated with contemplating and being present on the guided tour.
  2. You will learn about the journey your loved one or friend might take from the place of death, to the preparation room, casket/urn selection room, visitation/viewing room, ceremony/service selection to the final disposition (cremation or burial).
  3. You will hear about the various types of ceremonies and rituals associated with culturally diverse groups creating memorials and funerals for their deceased.
  4. You will hear about resource and support services of the funeral home industry.
  5. You will gain information regarding cultural “taboos” and attitudes regarding responses to death and disposition of the body.
  6. You are encouraged to ask questions of the tour guide who is an employee of the funeral home.
  7. You will be given the opportunity to debrief and to reflect on the experience by sharing whatever was evoked regarding your personal losses from death and your own mortality.
  8. You will be given the opportunity to participate in a closing ritual celebrating life.

Debriefing After the Tour Guide Leaves:

Time will be given to discuss:

  • Your personal responses to the content of the tour.
  • Your impressions of the professionalism and business practices of the funeral businesses.
  • The cultural issues associated with the rituals for the deceased.
  • Pertinent topics that arise.

Tours and Presentations

Tour will include:

  • Understanding grief
  • Children’s and Teen Issues with Grief and Loss
  • What is Cremation?
  • The Value of Advanced Planning
  • Funeral Directing – A Vocation
  • Cultural Diversity & Funeral Service

Tour Groups at Walton’s Funeral Home

For years, Walton’s Funeral Home has been welcoming students of all ages for educational tours and teaching programs at local schools, churches and at the funeral home itself. Over the years, we’ve learned that kids cope better with loss when they’re familiar with the funeral home and when they know what is going on with customs such as, visitation, funerals, burial and cremation. Many young people on our tours were recently bereaved, facing a serious illness in their family or unexpectedly faced a sudden death within the same year. Students always have the choice of not coming or stepping out of the group with their teacher if they become overwhelmed. In retrospect, children tell us the tour really helped them understand things better. Most found also, that their friends were more understanding because everyone shared this experience.

The second grade tour is brief and focuses on comfort and knowing what to do at the funeral home, including, being a pall bearer. The children make a huge banner which contains their hand prints and becomes our tool for teaching the kinds our own special “High Five for Help” concept. The kids love it. “High Five” is based on the five letters that spell “T.E.A.R.S”. Lifting the casket without spilling the glass of water on top is the goal. Being a pall bearer means team work!

The sixth grade tour takes the kids further into understanding grief and funeral customs. We visit the school to get acquainted with the classes, answer questions and explain that the funeral is “first aid for grief”. When the sixth graders come to tour the funeral home, we show them caskets, vaults and monuments, explain the funeral arrangements and choices such as different music, creative memories and the basic facts of burial and cremation.