CENTRAL MN MADE: Decoy Company Creates Functional Urns [AUDIO, GALLERY]

ST. CLOUD - A well-regarded local company has found a way to help people honor their outdoors-loving loved ones and pets through decorative, functional urns.

Wildlife Urn, an offshoot of St. Cloud's Jennings Decoy Company, is this week's featured "Made in Central Minnesota" company.

The enterprise isn't new - Wildlife Urn was conceived in the 1980s - but they've been busy re-branding and marketing in the last 6 months.

The idea is simple, but not found anywhere else in the country - the company employs a small handful of local woodworkers and artists to design and paint urns shaped like ducks and other wildlife.

The urns come in multiple sizes for both humans and pets - and those which are cork-based are actual, functional decoys.

Owner Steve Ehlen says they've been busy receiving requests from all over the country from hunters and outdoors people. He says they're proud of the fact that the urns are more than just holders for remains - they're artwork.

Ehlen says one product they're especially proud of is the "Keepsake Urn," which allows family members to divide their loved ones' remains between them for display.

Ehlen says, thanks to their website and trade shows, they've sold and shipped wildlife urns all over the United States.

Wildlife Urns are sold locally at the Jennings Decoy Company on Franklin Avenue in St. Cloud - to check them out for yourself, visit their website.