Announcements

The Pleasant Valley Cemetery (PVC) Spring Cleanup will be held on Saturday, April 1, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to around 11:00 a.m. We have not selected an alternate date at this point in time as our preference is to conduct the cleanup on the designated date.

This is the Cleanup where we remove ALL holiday decorations such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine’s Day, and others. If you have any decorations relating to these holidays and you wish to keep them, please have them removed prior to Saturday, April 1, 2023, or they will be discarded. We will also remove any Fall looking arrangements or decorations.

During the Spring Cleanup, we “attempt” to keep any arrangements that appear to be Spring like, but we cannot guarantee that they will remain in place as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” If an arrangement looks weathered, it will be discarded. If in doubt, please do not decorate for Spring until after Saturday, April 1.

During the Spring Cleanup, we will also remove any Shepard hooks that are not decorated in some manner. We will also remove any flag holders that do not hold flags as well as flags that are not seasonal or have become weathered. Weathered or torn American flags will also be removed and disposed of properly.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to help with this Spring Cleanup. Please bring a pair of gloves and, if you want, a leaf rake. We can never have too many rakes. We will provide bags.

Some years back we initiated the Friends of PVC group. This was a specific group of dedicated individuals who were assigned a particular section of the Cemetery as their specific area to maintain. We asked the group members to pick up trash, dead floral arrangements, sticks and branches as well as to straighten up flags and other mementoes in and around headstones. Other items that needed repair by Cemetery personnel were reported so that a work order could be prepared. That included items like areas that needed dirt or grass seed or monuments that needed attention. Individuals did not have a specific time to meet as it is when their individual schedules would allow them to perform these functions. Ideally, we would like to have each section walked at least once or twice a month, but there is usually more than one individual assigned to each section.

The group has somewhat disintegrated over the years, and I would like to reinstitute it this year. Therefore, if you have any interest in participating in the Friends of PVC Group, please send me an email to Pleasantvalleyks@gmail.com or give me a call at 913.444.0107 and we will be in touch. This is an important task that our volunteers can assist us with and one that will work towards the betterment of the cemetery in general. I hope that many of you will consider participating in this group.

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!