A little piece of Grandview in New York City

Submitted by Elder and Sister Dalebout


Thirty-seven years ago, our little family of five moved into our home at 1559 W. 1170 N. on Grandview Hill. I remember David Dalton saying that Grandview Hill was a special place to live and that really special people moved here. We have certainly been blessed to live here and associate with very special people.

There are a couple of "first impression" memories that come to mind. Not long after we moved into our home, we went to a stake dance. It was a dance for everyone, youth, as well as older people. As we walked into the cultural hall, it was alive with people who were dancing and having a great time. The thing that impressed us was that young people were dancing with older people. Randy Stokes was a teenager at that time, and he was dancing with an older person. We had such a good impression of the stake. Also, at one of our ward parties, we remember seeing Monita Robison dancing across the stage in a tutu. (I, Evelyn, had taken a class at BYU from Clarence Robison and had heard him talk about his wife.) It was really interesting to see Monita be such a "cut up."

Our street (1170 North) was alive with children. At one point, the streets of 1170 North and 1650 West housed 80 children. As our children were growing up, it was so impressive to see how all those children played together. In the summer, there were up to forty kids playing kick ball or other street games on the street of 1170 North. High school kids were playing with kids of all ages, down to five years of age. Many of them would congregate on our front porch and watch the games. Grandview Hill was a great place to raise children.

The Wood family lived across the street from us. They had four great boys. Three of those boys married girls from our ward. Ethan Wood married Stacey Dennis, who lived across the street from him. Travis Wood married Rachel Laursen, who lived a couple of blocks away. Ryan Wood married our daughter, Jenny. And, we weren't the only family who had children marry children within the ward. Bill and Vicki Frances grew up together and married each other also.

We remember when the benches in the chapel were filled with 12 Liechtys, 12 Lunds, 10 Bensons, 10 Vellingas, 10 Francis' and many other families with just a few less than that. Our primaries were packed with children; our young men and young women program was also impressive. And, when those children grew up, there were tons of missionaries. Grandview Hill has a heritage of wonderful families, who produced really great people.

We are now serving a mission in the New York New York North Mission. It seems that when you are in the church, your world becomes very small. A few weeks ago, we attended our ward (Inwood 1st Ward). David Liechty and his wife and daughter have moved into our ward. David was a friend of our son, Scott. Suzy Liechty (David's mother) was also there to help David and his family move. Our daughter, Jennifer, and her baby were visiting us. So, Jenny, Suzy and I were sitting together. In Relief Society, a new member of the ward stood up and told us her name was Lisa Vellinga. We all looked at each other and said: "She has to be related to our Vellinga Family on Grandview Hill." After the meeting, we went over to talk to her and we found out that she is Jed Vellinga's wife. Jed grew up in our ward in Grandview, and is the son of Clarence and Annette Vellinga. So, here we are in the Inwood 1st Ward in New York City, and we have Liechtys, Vellingas and Dalebouts together!

Grandview has been our home for 37 years. We love it there and love the people who live there. We hope to be there the rest of our lives. So, even though we will miss the grand celebration, we wish you all the best. We love you.