Being in the funeral business, Vanessa Harris has seen many people who are misinformed about certain aspects of funerals, cemeteries and other topics associated with death.

People call her funeral home asking for information about the Social Security death benefit, looking for good nursing homes and other topics, she said.

“They think we should know about everything.”

Harris decided to take action by bringing together everybody associated with the business in the area for a “Get the Facts” seminar. Harris rounded up a dozen professionals from every facet of the business — from funeral homes and cemeteries to lawyers and life insurance — to speak and pass out information. The free event will be held Saturday from 3 to 6:30 p.m. at East End Baptist Church, 523 E. Washington St.

“They always told me knowledge is power,” Harris said. “The only way to get information out is to have a seminar and to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”

Each speaker will talk for about five minutes on his assigned topic, and participants then will be able to approach them individually to ask questions and gather information, Harris said. Handouts, refreshments, door prizes and free blood pressure screenings also will be available.

“I just want to get the word out to them, let them see that there’s a lot of resources available to them,” Harris said.

Robert “Blake” Baker IV, who works at R.W. Baker Funeral Home and Crematory, will speak about cremation at the event.

“There’s a lot of misconception” surrounding cremation, Baker said. “The more you talk about it, the better your community’s informed about what’s going on.”

Baker said one of the biggest things people do not realize about cremation is that one can have a full service, including a casketed viewing, and then be cremated.

“People don’t realize all they can do,” Baker said.

The type of services people choose also is changing, Baker said. People are coming up with different ideas all the time for how they want their services.

“It used to be you had a traditional funeral, bought a casket, had a visitation the night before, did the funeral service and then the burial, and now it’s just not so,” he said. “It’s forever changing.”

Susan Ulrich, the cemetery office manager at the Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery, will be at the seminar to let people know about the veterans’ cemetery in Suffolk.

“We don’t have any way of doing public announcements,” Ulrich said. “We rely solely on funeral homes and word of mouth to let people know.”

Ulrich will have applications for burial at the seminar. Anybody who is actively serving or has been honorably discharged from the service is eligible for burial there.

“It doesn’t matter about time of service, whether it’s six months or 20 years,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich said she is glad Harris is doing the seminar, because many people don’t know there is a veterans’ cemetery in Suffolk.

“What she’s doing is a good thing because there’s so many people that don’t know about us,” Ulrich said.

For more information on the seminar, call 539-6500.