Sunday, April 25, 2021, 1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Featuring a specially curated natural art exhibit from local artists, seed-scattering ceremony, guided tours of the grounds, and much more!

Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary invites you to its first anniversary celebration on Sunday afternoon, April 25, 2021. Cincinnati’s only dedicated green burial ground, located at 796 Locust Corner Road in Pierce Township, opened on Earth Day last year, but due to the pandemic was unable to have an official grand opening – until now. This socially distanced, outdoor Open House will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the scattering of flower seeds, handmade jams and jellies from plants harvested at Heritage Acres, and more. Individual and small-group, socially distanced guided tours of the property, including available burial locations, will take place throughout the day on the hour. Heritage Acres staff and volunteers will be available to provide information about green burial.

Also featured will be a unique exhibition of “natural art” by local artists using found, native materials. Displays will be located all around the grounds. Linda Littman, Heritage Acres Board member and artist, curates the collection. “The first time I visited Heritage Acres, I saw the land as a blank canvas,” says Littman. The art pieces will remain on site until the elements reclaim them naturally. In addition to the finished professional works, guests at the Open House will be invited to create their own work of art using natural materials collected from the grounds.

Green (or natural) burial emphasizes simplicity and environmental sustainability. The body is placed into the ground shrouded or in a biodegradable casket. Cremated ashes are also acceptable, provided the urn is biodegradable. There is no concrete burial vault or toxic chemicals. The grave site is allowed to simply return to nature.

As Heritage Acres founder, Bill Gupton says that he measures the success of the sanctuary with each individual burial. “Providing the deceased and their grieving families with a meaningful celebration of life that is in harmony with their principles is our goal. All natural burials are very personal and individualistic, as unique as the person we’re burying.”

Heritage Acres, which was recently featured in the December “Best of Cincinnati” issue of Cincinnati Magazine, offers both immediate need burial services as well as pre-arrangements. Burial rights include body burial (in one of the sanctuary’s meadows) or the burial of cremated ashes (in one of the dedicated meadow or wooded sections). Additional private tours and information sessions can be scheduled anytime by scheduling an appointment by emailing Heritage Acres or calling 513-231-6438. Send email to:

Costs for burial in the sanctuary – which is a non-profit – are kept intentionally low, ranging from $950 to $3,000, and include all administrative and record-keeping services. A full price list (including detailed cost breakdowns) and complete guidelines for green burial can be found at the Heritage Acres website at www.heritageacresmemorial.org.

History of Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary
Several years ago, after finding no alternatives to conventional burial in the Cincinnati region, Bill Gupton took on the task of creating a natural burial ground for the area. “I quickly realized I was going to be waiting a long time for someone else to make this happen, so I decided to do it myself,” he says.

A non-profit LLC was created, a small but dedicated Board of Trustees came together, and soon there were more than two dozen early backers who created a Founders Circle. Following a wide-ranging search for appropriate land and a successful capital campaign, 40 acres of former family farmland were identified as the future site of Heritage Acres. Since closing on the property in October 2019, Heritage Acres volunteers have been engaged in a steady process of transforming the land into a sanctuary dedicated to green burial. The site also serves as a nature preserve and host to public events and educational experiences.

Recent Improvements
In the past year, more than 50 dedicated volunteers have worked diligently to remove aggressively invasive plants and overgrowth throughout the meadows. Wooded areas are being naturally cleared for the burial and memorialization of cremated ashes. The addition of hiking trails through the 15-plus acres of woodlands has provided nature lovers and grieving families the opportunity to fully experience the sanctuary’s trees, creek, and multiple waterfalls.

Event Details

Date: Sunday, April 25, 2021

Time: 1-8 p.m.

Location: 796 Locust Corner Road, Cincinnati, OH 45245. (Look for the yellow sign marked Heritage Acres directly across the street from 809 Locust Corner Rd)

Admission: FREE, but attendees are encouraged to subscribe to our newsletter or join our mailing list to receive event updates. To join, visit https://www.heritageacresmemorial.org/contact-us/

Parking: Parking is available just inside the entrance, but please consider carpooling. Parking attendants will be available to direct traffic.

COVID 19 precautions: All guests are required to wear masks and observe CDC social distance guidelines.

For more information, please visit www.heritageacresmemorial.org

Giving Tuesday is almost here! December 1st is an international day of giving back, and your opportunity to participate in the global generosity movement. It is your chance to make a difference in the lives of the friends and family members of those who have, and will choose, Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary as their final resting place. We provide many options for those who are seeking death practices and rituals that are meaningful and intentional about strengthening the bonds we all share with the Earth, and with each other.

Heritage Acres is not only a natural burial ground, but also a nature preserve dedicated to protecting land from development, conserving natural habitats and ecosystems, and allowing our bodies to return organically to the Earth. We accomplish these efforts through revenue generated from burial fees, grants and foundation support, individual donations, and our sustaining donor program.

Here’s How You Can Help

We invite you to help us in these efforts by becoming part of our circle of friends who believe there is a better way to care for our deceased loved ones and the environment.

BECOME A SUSTAINING DONOR: Sustaining donations help Heritage Acres better serve the families who have placed their trust in us. With consistent, reliable income, we can also be good stewards of the land we’re working to preserve. We can support our staff with a livable wage and help to keep the costs of green burial accessible to everyone.

Need some reasons why you should become a sustaining donor? We’re glad you asked!

It’s Automatic: Your sustaining donation is charged to your credit card each month for as long as you want to continue to support the work we do. You can cancel, increase, or decrease your donations at any time.

It’s Green: We’re all about reducing and reusing. Because your donations happen virtually, it’s just safer – and greener.

It Creates Greater Impact: Because we can count on your donation month after month, we can dedicate more resources to initiatives other than fundraising.

It’s Dependable: Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary can plan its revenue and expenses more accurately, allowing us to do more.

We Will Honor You: You’ll be recognized publicly in our newsletter and receive certain Heritage Acres perks (TBD)!

Here’s how it works:

• You designate the monthly amount you want to contribute on your credit or debit card. Indicate you want your donation to be recurring.
• PayPal takes care of the rest – charging your card as frequently as you indicate, until you notify them to stop.

You can contribute to Heritage Acres at any of the following levels:

• Planter ($20 monthly)
• Sower ($50 monthly)
• Nurturer ($100 monthly)
• Other Amount

To sign up, go to Become a Sustaining Donor (PayPal link).

Or….

MAKE A ONE-TIME DONATION: If you are not ready to become a sustaining donor, please consider making a one-time, tax-deductible contribution to Heritage Acres. Your support will go toward any number of initiatives vital to fulfilling our mission.

MAKE A MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTION: A donation in memory of a loved one is a beautiful way to honor both their life, and your commitment to a sustainable future for generations to come. Simply indicate the amount, and then add a note that your contribution is “In Loving Memory of . . .”

For more information, visit the Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary website.

December 2020.

Isn’t it about time you took a tour of Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary – Cincinnati’s first and only green burial ground and nature preserve? Located just 10 miles from Heritage Church, in Pierce Township, Heritage Acres is truly beautiful this time of year. We’ve installed a gravel drive and parking area, cut walking paths through the burial areas, and cleared the woods of honeysuckle (mostly). Now is the time to see Heritage Acres and learn what all the excitement is about!

To schedule a visit and tour, contact Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary.

June 2020.

Though slowed somewhat by the COVID-related shutdown and physical distancing guidelines, we are happy to report major developments at Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary. In late April, installation was completed on a gravel access drive from our front entrance at Locust Corner Road (directly across the street from 809 Locust Corner Road). There is now a small parking area just inside the entrance, and the road from it will allow vehicles to reach the edge of our meadow burial area and to park much closer to our wooded burial areas. The construction project also included grading and the installation of several culverts to divert and direct the flow of rainwater.

Meanwhile, numerous volunteers have been hard at work removing honeysuckle and other invasive species, downed trees and broken branches, etc. We are grateful to our April volunteers Donna Buckley, Mark Buckley, Anna Cash, Eric Cash, the Cash children, Zoe Edmiston, Bill Gupton, Sean McBride, Tracy Rossa, Jennifer Sanders, Patrick Sanders, John Sandman, Julia Sandman, Julie Skiff, Andrea Sloan, Larry Sloan, Dave Small, Tracy Jo Small and Eva Sofge (and hope we didn’t leave anyone out of this ever-growing list)! If you would like to spend some time outdoors, in as beautiful a setting as one can imagine, please contact Rev. Bill Gupton to learn more about volunteering.

If you’ve never been to Heritage Acres, or if you would like to take a tour of with an eye toward pre-planning, again please contact Rev. Bill to schedule a meeting at the property. We are now offering private tours for families (or very small 2-4 person groups). We will be maintaining proper physical distancing protocols while allowing folks to see the progress that has been made at our natural burial ground. And while we are not yet “open to the public,” members of the Heritage Church community can now make pre-arrangements including purchasing burial rights for either body burial or cremation burial.

Watch for an announcement about the official opening of Heritage Acres, hopefully sometime in the months ahead.

Article 4/24/2020.

Our Senior Minister, Rev. Bill Gupton, is on sabbatical. Much of his sabbatical time will be spent preparing for the opening of Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary. He has provided these pictures of the land, taken in the fall and early winter of 2019.

Posted February 14, 2020.

As Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary prepares to open to the public this spring, there remains a great deal of work to be done. To that end, Heritage Acres is forming teams of individuals who will support that work.

If you have a skill set or interest in helping Heritage Acres, this is your chance to get involved!
Please consider stepping up to become a member of one or more of the following teams:

Administrative Team
Burial and Funeral Services Team
Communications and Promotion Team
Community Relations Team
Fundraising Team
Infrastructure Team
Land Management Team

To volunteer, go to https://www.heritageacresmemorial.org/contact-us/ or contact Vice-President Donna Buckley. Indicate which team(s) interest you, and what skills you hope to bring to the work. Thank you!

On October 10, 2019, Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary purchased 40 acres located at 796 Locust Corner Road in Pierce Township, Ohio, completing a three-year search for land and making Heritage Acres a reality. “It feels wonderful to be ‘grounded’ in this very special place,” said Rev. Bill Gupton, President of Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary LLC.

“This day would not have been possible without the generous support of more than 200 individual donors. Thanks to you, we were able to buy this beautiful property without a mortgage, and without incurring interest payments.” He also expressed gratitude to the members of the Heritage Acres Founders Circle (listed below), the visionaries who came forward to make the initial donations to get the Heritage Acres project started.

Heritage Acres will now begin working with a natural burial consulting firm as it prepares to open to the public by the summer of 2020. “We had intended to be open by the end of this year,” Gupton said, “but the shift from property acquisition to becoming operational has brought new layers of complexity to the process. Luckily, we have great resources available to us, including the support and expertise of many in the national green burial movement who are cheering us on and want us to succeed.”

You can learn more at the Heritage Acres website. Watch this newsletter, as well as the Heritage Acres monthly e-newsletter, for updates.

Heritage Acres Founders Circle

Antoinette and Richard Asimus
Bob and Connie Booth
Maureen Boylan
Forrest Brandt and Kathy Wade
Donna and Mark Buckley
Frank Collins and Louise Lawarre
Gretchen and Rowley Elliston
Peg Fay-Feder and Sam Feder
Bill Gupton and Jennifer Sanders
Ann and Hank Jarboe
Bob and Ellie Lamb
Joann Meyer
John and Shannon Murley
Julia Sandman
Tracy Jo Small
Joan and Mark Stoffregen
Les and Steph Tacy

 

As Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary enters the final stretch of fundraising to complete its purchase of 40 acres in Pierce Township next month, our unique green burial project has been accepted into the Faithify program. Faithify is a Unitarian Universalist crowdfunding platform that encourages UUs from all over the world to support innovative programs created by UU churches and groups. We are proud to be among the select projects that Faithify has chosen to promote.

It is important that we demonstrate widespread support for our Faithify project, so please visit our campaign at Growing Green Burial the UU Way and give generously. Then, watch the Heirloom and your church bulletin and announcements next month for the grand announcement of our closing date on our Heritage Acres property. Thanks to all who have made this possible!

September 2019.