MARBLE CLIFF

Holiday memories

Marble Cliff residents share their favorite holiday memories

Sally Spangler, resident since the early 1940s

My fondest memory connects to a story called Silver Boxes. The author wrote that when our words come out, they should be a gift to one another, like silver boxes with bows on top. About 10 years ago, I woke up early Christmas morning and was all by myself. As I walked my dog past houses with warm lights on, I visualized happy children with their families under the tree and started feeling a little sorry for myself. Turning down Third Avenue, I saw something lying in a drift of snow that caught my eye. It was a little silver box with a gold bow on top. It was like the hand of God reached out and gave me the gift of encouragement at a moment when I needed it.

Elisa Dull, who lives in the house in which she grew up

When my sisters and I were in our 20s, we decided to go cut our own Christmas tree. Not any tree; we wanted a really fat tree. We looked over the lot and didn’t see what we wanted until, there on the periphery of the property, we spotted this huge tree, round like a lollipop. The lot owner thought we were crazy, but all three of us took turns chopping down this huge monstrosity of a tree. We put it in the truck, pulled up to the house – and couldn’t get the tree through the front door! My dad cut the tree in half vertically, hauled it into the house, closed the French doors, and tied it to the doorknob. It did look funny from the dining room, but my sisters and I had our big, fat tree that year.

Long-time resident Phil Shively

A favorite winter memory is sledding on the hills near the Our Lady of Victory church complex. Instead of using our sleds, sometimes, we’d take the huge metal cans from the Our Lady of Victory school trash bins and flatten them. Those cans made great sleds! We’d start at the top of the hill by the house, go left because the route was smoother (although we’d have to duck our head to miss tree branches), go airborne in two places and, with luck, make it all the way to the railroad tracks. I remember that on a very cold day, a nice lady would bring us hot chocolate or mulled cider to warm us up.

Residents Marcia and Curt Gantz

We used to love being with the residents of St. Raphael’s Home for the Aged at the annual Marble Cliff holiday party. About a dozen or so more mobile residents enjoyed being with the community and had wonderful stories to tell about when they were kids. They were very nice and appreciative and loved getting a poinsettia and other treats. At the end of the evening, we and other volunteers would lend a hand and help them back in the rooms. We grew up around elderly aunts and uncles, and it brought back this good feeling all over again.

Education Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of Giving

This year, the Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Education Foundation celebrates its 20th year serving Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff by promoting educational opportunities in the community. Since its inception in 1991, the Education Foundation has raised money to create a permanent endowment from which it has awarded grants of more than $375,000.

In 2011, the foundation awarded grants in excess of $40,000, funding such projects as library materials at Stevenson Elementary and Edison Intermediate schools, publication of a Grandview Heights High School student poetry anthology, laptops to support a paperless classroom for high school science and history courses, and renovation of the high school auditorium. Grants have also helped fund SMART Boards for use in math and science classrooms, author visits, international cultural exchange programs, and more.

The Education Foundation raises money to fund these projects by hosting an annual gala. The 20th annual event, Gala 2012, will be held on Jan. 28 at The Ohio Union Ballroom, and is being chaired by community members Janet Callison, Elaine Broderick and Sharla Thomas.

“We like to think of the gala as the social event for the Grandview community,” says foundation trustee Susan Studebaker. “It is always a fun and elegant evening with a gourmet dinner, live music, dancing and live and silent auctions. Everyone’s invited to attend.”

The work of the Education Foundation is only possible because of the generous support of the citizens and businesses of Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff.

For more information, visit www.ghmcef.org.