The Clubhouse
If you've ever been to an animal shelter, you have seen first hand what a horrible place it is...
Instead of a shelter, let's build a village.
Yes, I know. This is a dream and would take so much to build it...
The Bar will feature the full menu of beer, wine, and drinks, along with some really good food. At this point, I am leaning towards wood-fired pizza and subs.
Weekly activities will include Story Night, a Poetry Slam, Pizza Night, Pet Life Potluck, Picture Show & Tell, and if possible, an OUTDOOR bonfire to say goodbye to what we need to let go of.
Weather permitting, sit on the front porch in an old style rocking chair and enjoy a beer or some food.
The Stage won't have a band, except for special events. In our weekly events, we'll use the mic for stories and poetry slams. The MAIN use of this mic is for those who have written a book. Come take the mic, tell about your book, tell us what you've learned and your own healing journey, sign a few copies and we'll put those in our library (as well as sell copies).
A library with books about grief and recovery. If a therapist or someone has written a book, we'll invite them to come take the mic and tell us about their book, tell us what they've learned and what works for them, sign a few copies and they'll add it to our library. You can relax and read a book while you have a beer or enjoy some food.
We'll offer our own master-crafted memorials in a showroom.
Along with those, we can offer products that others have created and introduced. To purchase, of course. But hopefully, to give you ideas for crafting your own healing items.
For the more masterful creations, we will have our own woodshop with professionals to handle cutting wood and creation of pieces that require more technical skills.
In time, I'd like to explore the possibility of making our own headstones and grave markers instead of ordering them from a vendor.
Art therapy, D.I.Y. pet memorials, photos, painting, crafting with a professional instructor that can guide you in your project.
We'll offer offices for therapists to rent by the hour, day, or month - they can even poach clients in the bar.
Need a funeral or religious service? This clubhouse will have a sanctuary for that with a local funeral director and the spiritual advisor of your choice. *A minister, a rabbi, and a funeral director walk into a bar. There had to be a joke in there someplace. Maybe even burial services. If you want to bury your pet at your home, say the word and we'll bring the shovels. We can also produce headstones and grave markers.
The Sanctuary will have a separate entrance and foyer, as well as a staging room that can be used for private viewings and goodbyes.
I'd also like to offer an ash storage / visitation service. Standing there in the vet's office having to make FINANCIAL decisions about what to do with the ashes as I grappled with saying goodbye was overwhelming. The ash service can take some of the pressure off and let people make decisions when they're ready.
We'll coordinate with the vet to collect the ashes from the crematory. We'll store them until you are ready for a memorial of some kind. Whether that's a service or a crafted piece, you get to catch your breath before you begin.
Another service that we can provide is a visitation service. Some people don't want to keep an urn or memorial piece because their grief is too intense when they see it. However, the idea of simply discarding the ashes is also too much. In these rooms, the BEloved can visit their pets in a prepared room. Rooms can be designed to resemble a living room, for example. Come in and watch a movie with your pet nearby. After, we return the ashes to storage for later.
