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4-10-2010
We are currently well underway in our preparations for Memorial Day 2010. Our annual newsletter will feature Howard Wood as our honoree this year. We will be placing flower urns along the main drive into the Cemetery again this year and they are all freshly painted and ready to go. We were not able to trim as many trees this last winter as we would have liked due to the heavy snow in the sections but we have made progress nonetheless. The Boy Scouts will once again be manning the front gate on Memorial Day weekend this year and they will also be hosting a flag disposal ceremony sometime on that weekend as well. You may drop off your old worn out flags at the office anytime up until Memorial weekend for proper disposal. This week we will also begin a relandscaping around the columbarium area and will have it completed in a couple of weeks. Also remember to remove your winter artificial decorations from the graves by April 15th (next Thursday) if you wish to keep them.
3-5-2010
We have added new photos of Albert Stites and Thomas McKinnon in the "Featured Residents" section. They were provided by the Siouxland Heritage Museum whom we thank.
2-17-2010
A new story has been published in "Featured Resident" about Jonas H. Lien, a young man killed in action in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. We invite you to have a look at it.
2-15-2010
The Cemetery is now open again. The office will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. If you need to contact us call 321-9123 on those two days.
2-13-2010
We will be closing the Cemetery gates early this afternoon due to the snow and because of the forecast for blowing and drifting snow tomorrow we will keep them closed until the roads have been cleared on Monday morning.
2-10-2010
We have just added photos to the Van Eps story in "Featured Resident" and would like to thank the Old Couthouse Museum for providing them. More photos will be added to other stories as they come in. We will soon add the story of Cyrus Walts and are currently searching for photos of him and his wife.
2-6-2010
I've just published the story of Daniel Glidden in "Featured Resident." Please take a look as he was one of the prominent early forces in Sioux Falls as well as the man in who's memory the Chapel was funded and built.
We are also now on Facebook at "Mt. Pleasant Cemetery." There are lots of photos posted and the page will be expanded as time goes on. This Facebook page will allow us to reach even more of the population.
Be careful and safe on the roads this weekend as they are not very good.
2-2-2010
I ran across this little story the other day and although it doesn't directly pertain to Mt. Pleasant it is a delightful anecdote of early Sioux Falls nonetheless. Here it is:
"This illustration is of the last buffalo in Minnehaha County. He was born in Buffalo park, and having special advantages for growth, was a splendid specimen, weighing 2,400 pounds. He never realized his captivity, and his behaviour was unexceptional in the park. In August, 1894, he was sold and put in a box-car and shipped to Buffalo, New York. When he found himself confined in the car he was greatly enraged, and before arriving at his destination the car needed repairs. He was purchased for the park at Buffalo, but when he arrived there the park commissioners were at a loss how to transfer him to his new home, and they wired Senator Pettigrew for information. They finally made a chute for his passage and opened the door of the car, but he did not approve of the arrangement, and being prodded in order to drive him out, he knocked out one end of the car and made his exit."
Bailey, Dana R. History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota. Sioux Falls:
Brown & Saenger, 1899. pp. 753 - 754.
2-1-2010
We have closed the gates early today to start clearing the snow. They will reopen tomorrow when the roads are cleared.
1-24-2010
We may keep the gates closed for the next day or two. When I drove around the Cemetery today at closing time the roads were solid ice, my four wheel drive vehicle with studded snow tires was sliding around and the snow was starting to drift in. We will have to clear the snow tomorrow and then sand the roads to make them safe. As soon as this is done we will reopen the gates. I'll post a message here as soon as that is done.
Just as a note the "Featured Resident" stories are not static or simply done one time and then remain unchanged. As more information or photos are obtained I add them to the story as fast as I am able. I am presently obtaining more information on the Look family and Carl Andrew's story may be expanded to include the entire family.
1-20-2010
I have this week released nearly a dozen new biographies in the "Featured Resident" section of this site and more will be coming soon. Some of them are not quite complete yet as I am tracking down photos which sometimes take a little detective work to find. Please check out the websites of those businesses and organizations which help contribute photos and materials for the stories. I include links to their site at the end of the story in the acknowledgments. I would eventually like to have the biographies of as many people interred in Mt. Pleasant as possible available in our "Featured Resident" archive. If you have a relative or know of someone buried here and would like their story included in our on line archive give me a call (321-9123) and I will happy to help you put one together. If you have multiple family members here we can put together a family story.
We will soon be making further improvements to the website in order to make it more interesting, streamlined and easier to read.
I am also happy to announce that we in the process of securing a new tractor for the grounds. This will allow us to get things done a lot faster and to move our rebuilding program for the Cemetery forward. This much needed piece of equipment will eliminate a great deal of time presently spent in hand labor and free it up for far more efficient purposes.
Once again , the ice storm this morning has made the roads slick in the Cemetery so drive carefully while on the grounds.
Regards,
Randy Pudwill, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
1-16-2010
We are in the midst of winter and I don't need to tell you about how much snow is on the ground. We have the roads cleaned but they are still snow packed so remember to drive carefully while visiting the cemetery.
As I told some of you last fall we were finalizing arrangements to get memorial stepping stones made for those in the Memorial Scattering Grounds. These stones will have the name of the deceased and birth and death dates on them. They will be incorporated in a walkway into the Garden. All scatterings of ashes will now include one of these memorial stones and the price for this service will be $100.00. For those of you who have scattered ashes in the past and would like one of these memorial stones the price will be $50.00 plus tax. The scattering ground has been "under construction" for the past two years and has not looked its best, for which we apologize, but will be completed this spring for the coming summer along with relandscaping around the columbarium. We rely greatly upon volunteer effort to get things done and there has been much to do with the revitaliztion program for the grounds in general and not everything has been achieved as quickly as we like but we will get it all done. Of course, needless to say, we welcome volunteers to help with the vast project of restoring Mt. Pleasant to its place of prominence in Sioux Falls.
Regards,
Randy Pudwill, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
The time for planting flower urns will be here before you know it. For your flowers to grow well through the season here are a few tips:
1. Use a good quality potting soil and change it every four to five years.
2. Good drainage is essential. We see numerous urns where years of compacted dirt have blocked the drain holes in the bottom. Make sure the drain is open all the way through to the bottom and that your urn is placed on a concrete stepping stone. Before adding soil put a layer of gravel in the bottom or a piece of broken clay pot over the drain. A few days of your flowers sitting in water will kill them or at the least set them back severely for the remainder of the season.
3. The hot months of summer are like a desert to your plants. Leave three to four inches of space from the top edge of your urn when planting for watering. If the soil is all the way to the top we cannot get water to your flowers and they will not survive.
4. We know that flower urns are heavy and it may be difficult for some of you to perform these necessary tasks. If so just let us know at the office and we will help you. We want your flowers to thrive as much as you do.
5. As solid as they are concrete urns don't last forever. If your urns are cracked or broken we will remove them from the gravesite. Consider replacing them with a new one. For the number or years they last they are a bargain at $60.00. You may purchase them at the office. Similarly, urns that are not planted or have weeds growing out of them make the Cemetery noticeably unsightly and will be removed.
6. Remember if you don't wish to do your own planting the Cemetery staff can do so for you. The annual cost for this service is $40.00 or for a perpetual planting program you might wish to explore our Urn Trust program. Call the office for details.
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