Moment in Time (originally submitted to ThisWeek News for publication January 12, 2005)

Sledding has always been a popular winter activity in Grandview Heights. The composite photo above shows a cartoon drawing from a 1928 Community News paper (above left) and former Grandview Mayor Wyman's assistant preparing to push him down the hill from the Municipal Building into the park named for him. At the lower left is a circa 1903 photo showing residents sledding on the Grandview Avenue hill toward Goodale Blvd. at the bottom. The children of the Merkle family (former residents of the convent house) sled down the hill behind the current OLV church in the center photo. Other popular hills were the Utopia Drive (now Woodhill Drive) hill, Broadview Avenue, and hills from residences along the Goodale ridge. Sledding wasn't always restricted to snowy hills, as shown in the lower right, with cardboard boxes lining the Wyman Woods hill in this 1970s photo.