Events & Gatherings
Circle of Friends for the Dying actively promotes events that give people the opportunity to explore their feelings about death. We feel that knowledge is power, which can bring great relief during a time of powerlessness. We can’t control our dying, but we can explore ways to face it so that the choices available to us become meaningful options.
Death Cafes
One such event series is our monthly Circle of Friends Death Cafés which supports increased awareness of death in order to help people make the most of their finite lives. Death Cafés are open to, and respectful of, people of all communities and belief systems. A Death Café is a group-directed conversation of death with no agenda, objectives, or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session. The meetings are free, but we ask you to register in advance.
- Virtual (Zoom) Death Cafes
We hold virtual death cafes on the 18th of each month. Click here for more information. - In-person Death Cafes
We hold in-person death cafes regularly each month, in the home at 100 Wurts Street, Kingston, NY, and at other locations and organizations in the region. Click here for more information.
Life Matters
Life Matters is an event series that we offer in-person in our home at 100 Wurts Street, Kingston NY. We advocate for the re-balancing of life and death by hosting this monthly series of programs for the public to examine perspectives on death and dying. The Lancet Commission on the Value of Death imagines “a new vision of how death and dying could be. The five principles are: the social determinants of death, dying, and grieving are tackled; dying is understood to be a relational and spiritual process rather than simply a physiological event; networks of care lead support for people dying, caring, and grieving; conversations and stories about everyday death, dying, and grief become common; and death is recognized as having value.” Life Matters addresses such possibilities by welcoming various speakers to present issues and social concerns for the living. We request that you register for these in-person events.
Other Events & Gatherings
In the past, CFD has hosted workshops and provocative speaking engagements in the Hudson Valley region which we advertise under Other Events on our website. We held a day-long seminar at HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, New York, with Stephen Jenkinson, author of Die Wise and Come of Age among other titles. Jenkinson, also a teacher, a farmer, and an activist in what he calls “the death trade,” spoke of his experiences in Toronto hospitals where his job was to counsel terminal patients and ease their way to accepting death. We’ve hosted Sharon DiCarlo of Hudson Valley Hospice Foundation; CFD co-founder Laurie Schwartz who talked about homes for the dying and our project, Circle Home; Dr. Maggie Carpenter of Nightingale Medical in Gardiner; and Jo Scari, former CFD board member and licensed mortician to talk on securing one’s LGBTQ identity in death among many other fascinating presentations.
And we occasionally throw parties, like the Day of the Dead dance and fundraiser held at BSP in Kingston and Circlestock, a benefit concert and dance held at The Colony in Woodstock, New York.
Let us know how we can contact you when things are happening! Because we are continuing to develop new events, please visit often or be notified of future events by signing up here.
To see a list of previous events, click on “Previous Events” at the very bottom of the list.
CFD on Planet Seniors on Radio Kingston!
Tune in for Planet Seniors on Radio Kingston! Rita Vanacore will be talking to Circle of Friends for the Dying again on Monday, May 11th - 8:00 PM Join us by visiting https://radiokingston.org/en/broadcast/planet-seniors or by listening at 107.9 or 1490 AM! Featuring numerous CFD Board Members and Volunteers. Planet Seniors is dedicated to the proposition… Read More »CFD on Planet Seniors on Radio Kingston!
An Online Discussion on Death and Dying with Barbara Sarah and others …
Rosendale Theater 408 Main St, Rosendale, NYhttp://www.rosendaletheatre.org/2020/05/08/science-on-screen-an-online-discussion-on-death-and-dying/ Science on Screen – An online discussion on Death and Dying A Facebook Live streamed discussion on Death and Dying as the crossroads between spirituality and science, with Lawrence Bush, Editor Emeritus: Jewish Currents, and Barbara Sarah, Award-winning community activist and social worker, local moderator of Death Cafe. Click here on May 12 at… Read More »An Online Discussion on Death and Dying with Barbara Sarah and others …
CFD Death Café via Zoom on 5/13- starts at 10:45am
Death Cafe returns to the Hudson Valley for the 61st time for a second virtual gathering via the interweb! Last month nearly 50 people joined our first virtual Death Cafe to open the 2020 season. Folks from four NY counties, along with attendees from California, Arizona, and Michigan, logged in to connect with each other… Read More »CFD Death Café via Zoom on 5/13- starts at 10:45am
Death Cafe via Zoom, Wed. June 17 @7pm
Death Cafe returns to the Hudson Valley for the 62nd time for a third virtual gathering via the interweb! Last month nearly 30 people joined our second virtual Death Cafe. Folks from four NY counties, along with attendees from California, Seattle, and Puerto Rico, logged in to connect with each other and share their ideas… Read More »Death Cafe via Zoom, Wed. June 17 @7pm
Virtual CFD Death Cafe on Tuesday, July 21 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Death Cafe returns to the Hudson Valley for the 63rd time for our fourth virtual gathering via the interweb! Last month nearly 30 people joined our virtual death cafe with folks logged in to connect with each other and share their ideas and concerns about dying and death. The June Zoom meeting was a great… Read More »Virtual CFD Death Cafe on Tuesday, July 21 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief A remote support group for adults affected by COVID-19 This support group is for adults who have had a loss due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Sharing one’s grief with others with a similar traumatic loss can open pathway to healing. Co-facilitated by Elise Lark, PhD, LCSW & Rev. Robin Lane,… Read More »Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief A remote support group for adults affected by COVID-19 This support group is for adults who have had a loss due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Sharing one’s grief with others with a similar traumatic loss can open pathway to healing. Co-facilitated by Elise Lark, PhD, LCSW & Rev.… Read More »Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief A remote support group for adults affected by COVID-19 This support group is for adults who have had a loss due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Sharing one’s grief with others with a similar traumatic loss can open pathway to healing. Co-facilitated by Elise Lark, PhD, LCSW & Rev.… Read More »Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief A remote support group for adults affected by COVID-19 This support group is for adults who have had a loss due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Sharing one’s grief with others with a similar traumatic loss can open pathway to healing. Co-facilitated by Elise Lark, PhD, LCSW & Rev.… Read More »Not Alone: Sharing our Hearts, Our Grief
Virtual Death Cafe via Zoom on Wed. August 26th at 4pm!
Virtual Death Cafe via Zoom