Announcements

Remember to save the date of Saturday, August 12, 2023, for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Annual Meeting that will be held in front of the George Boyd Memorial Chapel within the Cemetery. Coffee and doughnuts start at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. All are invited and encouraged to attend.

You will note several hoses on various water spigots located throughout the cemetery.  We have also placed orange poles on selected gravesites.  These poles indicate that we are going to put sod on those graves in the near future.  The poles also remind volunteers which graves are to be watered on a twice daily basis for a period of time.

If you are visiting the cemetery and looking for something to do, please feel free to pick up any of the hoses and water graves to your heart’s content, no one will stop you!

I am aware that there are many other bare graves within the cemetery.  Eventually we will attempt to get to all of them, but I’m afraid we may have to suspend watering in the months of July and August, but we’ll see.  We have hired a young man by the name of John Kierspel who you will see at various times watering this summer.  This “may” allow us to plant and water during the HOT months.

Several of you have asked about a workshop on cleaning of headstones.  That is still on my “To Do List”.  However, there are (and always have been) basic instructions of cleaning headstones on our website.  If interested, check that out below.

I have noted that there are several headstones within Pleasant Valley Cemetery that are missing the final date on the headstone.  I highly encourage you, as a sign of respect, to have that final date engraved on headstones.  You can contact Gough Memorial Engraving and they would be happy to quote you a price to have this last piece of work completed. (913) 669-3952

We had twelve (12) individuals sign up to participate in the newly reconstituted Friends of PVC. This is a group of volunteers who agree to adopt a particular section of the cemetery and perform routine maintenance throughout the entire year. The idea is to visit their assigned section(s) periodically and look for items that need to be picked up and disposed of such as trash, expired decorations and branches and twigs as well as straightening up veteran markers, flag holders and other items that need a little tender loving care.

I would like to thank the following individuals for signing up:

If anyone else would like to join this happy group of Volunteers called Friends of PVC, please send an email to pleasantvalleyks@gmail.com or give me a call at 913.444.0107 and we will add you to the list.

Periodically I put out a call for candidates to become future Board Members of Pleasant Valley Cemetery. The time commitment is not too unrealistic. Each term is for three years. We have four quarterly Board meetings that generally last about two hours plus one Annual Meeting on the first Saturday of August which also lasts about two hours. There are some occasional time commitments, but nothing most all of you could not manage. The Board meetings are set depending on the schedule of the members of the Board. Currently they are held on a weekday evening from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., but that can change depending upon the wishes of the sitting Board.

If any of you “might” have an interest in serving on the Board of Directors for Pleasant Valley Cemetery, please let me know and we will have a discussion. We have nine (9) Directors. We have a particular interest in individuals who have knowledge, skills, and abilities in the field of general accounting or bookkeeping for the position of Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer and individuals who might like to take notes of the meetings and produce Minutes for our Secretary position. We also have a need for a Board member who is familiar with the field of investments as they would interface with our Investment Management partners.

I like to keep a pool of potential candidates as we never know when the need might arise. If you have an interest, please let me know.

The Cemetery Board voted at their last Board meeting to increase Cemetery prices effective January 1, 2023. Single spaces are going from $1,500 to $2,500 per space. If you know of anyone who would like to purchase spaces in Pleasant Valley Cemetery, please let them know that they have until the end of 2022 to purchase spaces at the existing price of $1,500.

Second burial rights are going from $500 to $1,250 effective January 1, 2023.

Columbarium Pricing:

• From: $1,100 to $2,100 for bottom row
• From: $1,400 to $2,500 for the two middle rows
• From: $1,700 to $2,700 for top row

Second inurnment rate from $500 to 50% of cost of the niche

Engraving will no longer be included in the overall price but priced separately.

We are gratified at the wonderful response that we have received for our newly established Pleasant Valley Cemetery Monument Restoration Program. Your generosity and care for the preservation of our Cemetery is heartwarming and all donations are greatly appreciated. It is our intent to look at all the headstone monuments in the older sections of our cemetery and identify those that are becoming a safety hazard or deteriorating to the point that they are looking bad. We will then prioritize the repair work and use whatever funds are generated to do the repairs.

If you wish to make a donation to the Monument Restoration Program, please let me know and I will provide information, or send a check payable to Pleasant Valley Cemetery to 9501 West 159th Street, Overland Park, KS 66221

In conjunction with the Monument Restoration Program, I am going to be holding a series of Headstone Cleaning events at Pleasant Valley where volunteers can come and work alongside each other in cleaning the older stones. We will work with everyone to provide guidance and instructions and make them fun and productive events. I invite you to join us when they are announced.

The cemetery can be extremely windy all year long, but particularly in the winter.  If you put out decorations or arrangements, please make sure that they are securely fastened so they don’t get blown away.  If we find arrangements within the cemetery, we have no idea where they came from and we don’t want to randomly place them on a nearby grave because if the original owner would see their arrangement moved to another grave, they would think it was deliberate. Unfortunately, we just discard them.

I get asked that question a lot and always appreciate being asked. My response always is that anytime you visit the cemetery, bring a small plastic bag with you and pick up any sticks or other trash you see around your immediate area. Also, if you are feeling particularly ambitious and it is a nice day, pick one or our many trees and rake around it. I am amazed how many small twigs and branches litter the ground underneath the older trees. We have a trash bin at the south end of the cemetery and bigger items can be placed behind the enclosure and we’ll dispose of it later. Additionally, if you have a small broom, you can always sweep off the monument headstones in your immediate area.

Every little bit helps us out tremendously. No set times or schedule just do as little or as much as you can whenever you can. We sincerely appreciate all the help that we can get.

Some of you have expressed an interest in how to clean your headstone/monuments. While the monuments are stone or granite, you still need to exercise some degree of caution. The best and easiest method is to use a mixture of 50% water and 50% White Vinegar. On lime stone, you should use a mixture of 75% water and 25th White Vinegar. Best to wet the monument first and then use a soft bristle brush, either natural or synthetic and clean from the bottom up to the top in small circular motions. Do not bleach! Use lots of water. If you need a hose put out for this project, please let us know and we’ll make sure they are nearby. They clean up very nicely and will look great for a long time. Well worth the effort!