The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page C02

C2 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013 INQUIRER.COM Best friends forever, buried together least 700 families. Considering that burial rates are declining, that's good business. "For us, 20 years ago the human cremation rate was approximately 10 percent, and today it's over 40 percent," Flynn said. A recent study by PLPA found that 99 percent of pets are cremated today, while only 1 percent are buried. So burying pets and people together, for which plots cost $795 to $995, adds a new revenue stream.

i It- i'''' 1 1r il. k- 7 '1111 1 I 11 1 4 4,111. I I 'Ti'''' 1 II 4 it---'- -'5- 1 YIOft il ti I 71 't, lc, 4 tbe 1. -4. t.

1 11 ill .1411:1 1 I ...1, 4-, i 81 Funeral allow on personal in coffins. allow on on ersonal in coffins. pets," said Tom Flynn, Hillcrest president and devoted dog owner. "The light just went off in my head. This is really where we feel the market is." Longer than a standard grave, these plots are 3 feet by 10 feet.

If the pets die first, they will be buried under the grave marker. "Once the person passes away and is buried, we can also put two more pets into the same grave on top of the person," Flynn explains. "For someone who, over the period of time, has had a lot of pets, we can accommodate them whether they be in the grave with the NI person or in a contig- uous grave." direct( Roberta "Birdie" discr( Barkovich and her sis- ter, Ramona Vargo, placing both plan to be bur- 01 ied near their beloved pets. "My sister people is going to be buried next to our three collies who are buried in Hillcrest's people and pet section right now," explained Barkovich, who lives in nearby Farrell, in northwestern Pennsylvania. "I'm going to be buried in the people section next to my parents, not too far from the dogs." The dogs were not cremated each body was wrapped in a blanket in its own casket with pictures of family members inside.

"We had a viewing for Glory and Noah, mother and son collies who died three days apart," Barkovich said. "We were able to go in and say goodbye to them before they were buried." Despite the recession, Flynn said burials (and presales) have grown from about two per month to 10 since 2007. By the end of this year, he estimates he will have taken care of a total of at directors discretion placing objects people's BURY from Cl as family members. For some owners, that means sharing a cemetery plot. "It's a growing trend," said Co leen Ellis, cochair of the Pet Loss Professionals Alliance (PLPA).

"I wish I had a dime for every time I heard someone say, 'You know I love the pet more than I love my husband, wife, brother, As the nuclear family has changed, the human-animal bond has increased significantly, so when we consider our final resting place, many pet parents say they want to be with them." In most cases, state law prohibits burying pets in human cemeteries, said Poul Lemasters, a funeral director and lawyer who consults in the death-care profession. Yet funeral directors allow discretion when it comes to placing personal objects in people's coffins. "They will tell you 'not a day goes by when I don't put an urn of an animal into the casket of a human being secretly for a Ellis said. "So, while it's been going on for a very long time, the trend is becoming more recognized where people are getting permission to do it." Demand for joint burials is such that people are now being buried in pet cemeteries where human cremains can be buried. "Cremation is deemed the final disposition for people, so the family can do whatever they want with those cremated remains," explained Debra Bjorling, owner of Hamilton Pet Meadow Memorial Park and Crematory in Hamilton, N.J.

The Hamilton pet cemetery began burying human cremains alongside their pets about eight years ago, when Bjorling was approached by two sisters whose Roberta "Birdie" Barkovich (left), mother Rose Jovenall, and sister Ramona Jovenall Vargo, and collies Glory, Ka lei, and Noah Bear. The sisters both plan to be buried near the beloved pets. Although some cemeteries are too old to have their codicils changed, newer eteries are taking notice. Already a trendsetter in the cemetery business as Pennsylvania's first green cemetery, Penn Forest Natural Burial Park in Vero- na, near Pittsburgh, is preparing to open a new section for the burial of people with their pets. Green burials don't use formaldehyde-based embalming or burial vaults.

"People who want a green burial seem to like animals and are interested in pet burial," reasoned owner Peter McQuillin. "Combining the idea of environmentally friendly with pet burial will make us the first green cemetery for burying pets." Obviously, it's a trend with legs. Yet whatever the kind of burial, the foundations for the movement are the same. People want to be buried with their loved ones. Sisters Barkovich and Vargo married their husbands seven years ago when they were in their early 50s.

"We never had children and we loved our animals like they were our children," Barkovich said. maintained, and a deed restriction assures the bodies buried will never be disturbed. Pennsylvania and New Jersey law requires both for cemeteries. If you want to spend eternity with your pet without being cremated, Hillcrest Memorial Park in Hermitage, is one of the few places in the country legally able to bury humans and pets together. (Pet cemeteries like Hamilton can bury only cremains.) Originally a human cemetery, its operators applied for a license to add a pet cemetery, which opened in 2007, and that led to the creation of a third section that same year allowing for the burial of pets and humans together.

"The city adjusted the definition of a cemetery to a place for the burial of humans andor mother's last wish was to be buried with her pets. "They told me she liked pets more than people," Bjorling said. After a graveside ceremony that included a spiritual service, the box containing the cremains of the woman and the two boxes with her pet remains were buried side by side. For customers it makes economic sense: Hamilton charges by the plot, not the soul. Body burials (the body of the pet and the cremains of the owner) are burying the cremains of pet and owner costs $500, which includes perpetual care fees.

Bjorling suggests that people interested in being buried in pet cemeteries do their homework first: A perpetual care fund requires the cemetery always be Mirror, Mirror -401Ir i0010 1 4 t''- 7.7: 't vv- Sarah Smith wanted her curls back, so stylist Eric Nowacki gave her a lob (above). ELIZABETH WELLINGTON Staff Continued from Cl spired a slew of IlAreeters, Instagrammers and Pinteresters to try a nape-of-the-neck shag featuring a bit of bang. Experts predicted Kloss' do was going to be the coif of the year. And while "the chop" as it was deemed by Vogue magazine was pretty hot, it wasn't the only cropped look making heads turn this year. Spiky styles, like Cyrus', are high on the fantabulous meter, as are inverted asymmetrical bobs like actress Chelsea Kane's.

"Women are finally not afraid to cut their hair anymore," said stylist Giovanni Me le, owner of Center City salon Giovanni Pileggi. "It's all going back toward the '80s." My favorite cut of the moment is the longer-in-the-front, shorterin-the-back bob, also known as the lob, a la Kerry Washington and Jessica Biel. (I'd love to do this look, but I'm too afraid to commit. Don't judge.) One woman who committed to a drastic cut is 18-year-old high school senior Sarah Smith. For two years, Smith, of Springfield Township, Montgomery County, wore glam Beyonce-like hair straightened with a product that acted like a relaxer but didn't have any chemicals, she said one recent Saturday afternoon.

1 i 1N 11,, vb. Alp---Tk .7 11 1 1 4 Snip, snip. Trim, trim. Smith's natural curls coiled into layers. Only a smidgen of processed hair hung just below her chin.

After Smith sat under the dryer, she emerged with a new look a lob that was cute and messy. Will she venture further? Probably in the near future. It's rare that women go from very long to very short in one visit. "I really do like it," Smith later said. Until then, Smith will attend her graduation from Springfield Township High School next week with the season's trendiest look.

"I used to want to get rid of my curls," Smith said. When dripping wet, her hair reached down her back and revealed two textures wavy loose curls from the scalp to mid-ear. The rest was bone-straight and limp. "Now, I just want my curl back." Stylist Eric Nowacki knew just what to do. He was thinking a beat-the-heat lob, but he wasn't sure how short Smith was going to let him go.

"I'm just going to see howl feel," Smith said. It took Nowacki about 20 minutes to cut Smith's hair to a working style that hit her shoulders. He asked, could he go even shorter? Why not give this new bob a bit of dimension? Smith shyly nodded. 1 1 Actresses Anne Hathaway (left), Chelsea Kane (center), all Mich Ile Williams have led the way to hor er hai styles. Associated Press eft), Chelsea Kane -ns have led the ssociated Press Contact fashion writer Elizabeth Wellington at 215-854-2704 or ewellingtonphillynews.com.

Follow her on Twitter ewellingtonphl. Sidetour 1 li. .7:::,, .6 I i 14-1- .1 1,11 an I I. a I Inziiiirli 1 S64. 7 .1, --I mar lite r'1 ia ME, HoNRy HONEY 1.11.0 itoki tioille Itanom 1, A LIFUM HONEY P.n.

along the Delaware. The tour took us under the Benjamin Franklin bridge, over cobblestone streets and cracked sidewalks, and through Kyriakodis' living room (you don't get that kind of treatment on Independence Mall). A resident of Pier 3, Kyriakodis wanted us to see how a historic pier had been converted into a modern complex. Much of the tour was conducted in spaces where this or that used to be, making it difficult to engage with the material. But Kyriakodis was largely successful in setting the scene of a lively colonial port, sharing pictures and drawings that helped us to better envision the history beneath our feet.

As we walked alongside I-95, we stopped at an inconspicuous stairway between Vine and Callowhill Streets connecting Front and Water Streets. More than 300 years old, the "Wood Street Steps," named for a now nonexistent alley, are the last remnants of a series of eight to 12 sets of steps commissioned by William Penn to guarantee water access for all Philadelphians. Educated in railroads, urban beekeeping, and the waterfront's history, I'm hungry for more. A side benefit of Sidetour is that it succeeds in satisfying your curiosity on a subject while piquing it in others. Plus, it's hard not to become an enthusiastic supporter of a tour's topic after you've spent an hour or two with someone who has made it their life.

Perhaps Sidetour could become an addiction? 1 to know the tastemakers. So I met some. My first Sidetour was also the first to be offered in Philadelphia: a walk through the Reading Viaduct led by Paul Van Meter, the cofounder of VIADUCTGreene a project devoted to the repurposing of the abandoned Ninth Street Branch of the Reading Railroad. Starting in Fairmount and winding through Callowhill into Chinatown, the $25 tour followed the viaduct, but did not tread on it. The land, Van Meter explained, was private property.

We watched in envy as a stream of independent visitors casually disregarded that fact. For two hours, Van Meter educated us on the tract's history and plans to reinvent it. Carrying passengers and mail to Reading Terminal for more than 100 years, the elevated rail line represents an important period of industrial development in Philadelphia. Since it became inactive in 1984, the railway has morphed into an enchanting and surreal urban jungle, overgrown with shrubbery and trees. VIADUCTGreene, Van-Meter explained, aims to create a garden park "of intersecting culture and wildness." Think New York's High Line.

At its end, VanMeter suggested we decide for ourselves whether to step through a hole in the fence, use a cord tied to a tree, and climb up to the viaduct. I did, and in some ways, it felt like the real tour was just beginning. My next choice was a wine, cheese, and honey tasting hosted by Annie Baum-Stein, who runs Continued from Cl er the City's Stunning Ironwork with a Local Blacksmith" ($38 a person); "Unearth Phi Ily's Underground Stories of Freedom and Slavery" or the lighter "Drink and Discover the Classic Cocktails of Tiki Culture" About 80 percent of patrons on each Sidetour are local. But the concept was born far from here, on a trip CEO and cofounder Vipin Goyal took with his wife several years ago. The two former tech start-up workers were bored with the scene in New York, so they sold most of their possessions and bought two plane tickets for a journey around the world, with stops in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and New Zealand.

The most memorable experiences, Goyal explains, were the ones in which a local host connected them with natives' day-to-day experiences and lives. The vacation prompted Goyal to think about the way people approach their own locales. "Why is it when we travel we are in this mode of discovery?" he asks. "We're wide-eyed and curious. And then we come back to the cities that we live in, and put these blinders on." The idea behind Sidetour is to meet the "fascinating people who are doing crazy, remarkable things every day" and to "take a walk in their shoes." The only way of truly knowing your city, the company advises, is Discussion of urban beekeeping and a honey sampling based on local zip codes was part of a wine, cheese, and honey tasting.

Milk Honey market in West Philadelphia at the edge of Clark Park, and co-owns Urban Apiaries. Baum-Stein chatted with our group of eight about urban beekeeping, leading us through a tasting based on local zip codes which we learned meant huge variations in taste. South Philadelphia, for instance, is replete with window-unit plants and small gardens. This honey tastes floral, with an up-front sweetness. Bees in West Philadelphia, on the other hand, are more likely to feed on flowering trees, which yield vegetal honey with a greater depth of flavor.

I stuck around after the official tasting was over, eating the leftover cheese and honey and visiting with Baum-Stein and the other guests. The food and conversation, helped by a lovely location at the center of Logan Square, was hard to leave until someone had to go to softball practice. My third Sidetour a trip through Old City's waterfront called for walking shoes again. We met our guide, Harry Kyriakodis, a historian and author, at Christ Church on Second Street, eventually making our way up to Northern Liberties on a path Contact Elizabeth Horkley at ehorkleygmail.com..