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Deleys’ holiday villages are tradition
By christine keeling
boardman
What started as a small holiday village has turned into a full-blown town.
Mary and Frank Deley have constructed 59 structures for each of seven holiday villages. The 413 buildings are Western-themed and spark a lot of family memories.
Rina Deley of Boardman said she got her first four buildings in 1986 when she married the couple’s son, Frank Jr.
They included two houses, a church and a school — one of the first four sets built by the couple.
Frank, 85, said he didn’t know what to do with his time after he lost his job when LTV Steel closed. He began building the villages because his wife suggested he make something for the kids.
“He goes into the basement and works,” said Mary, 84.
Frank uses balsa wood, stones, wood dowels and glue for construction. Mary cross-stitches signs and places snow on the roofs.
Family members said they buy gift cards to a local craft store as presents for the couple.
“I buy wood every other day,” said Frank.
He also pays attention to details.
The church has stained glass for the windows and the saloon has a bar and stools.
Each building takes about two weeks to complete.
They have built a Deley Mill, an F. D. Bank and even a Kolbasy House.
Every time the family grew, the Boardman couple would rebuild every building to catch it up to the other sets.
“You start making them, and then you get another grandchild,” said Frank. “It was a lot of hard work.”
Besides the couple’s and their son’s set, Joyce and Jerry Laska, Michelle and Nick Elton, Nancy Brunner, Danielle Deley and Taylor Deley each own one of the large villages.
But some family members will have to wait, Frank said.
He has stopped at seven sets and said he wouldn’t start over again, even if his family paid him $5,000.
Rina and Frank’s daughter, Nicole Deley, 16, will get her grandparents’ village when she marries or he passes, and Frank and Mary’s five-month-old great-grandchild, Noah, will get the village from his grandmother, Nancy, when he gets older.
Nicole said she tried to group like buildings together when she placed them under the family’s tree this year. They take up about a 10-by-10-foot area of Rina and Frank’s living room.
Each building is signed, “built by Papa and Bubba Deley.” The date the structure was made and the name of the family member who came up with the idea also are included, to help the family remember.
Noah’s mother, Michelle, of Canfield, requested a day-care building.
Joyce of Columbiana, one of the couple’s daughters, said she figured the town’s people “needed somewhere to ‘go,’” as she showed off two hand-built outhouses that seemed strategically placed in the town.
Her husband, Jerry, said his family used to have a joke, before they moved to a bigger place.
“You’re going to have to stop building or we are going to have to move out for Christmas,” he said they used to tell Frank.
Although family members said it is becoming harder to come up with new ideas, Frank said there is always a building in the works.
Under construction is a fish market, and then a motel is planned.
“Even at 85, he’s down there everyday, cutting, gluing and making new things,” said Nancy.
Her twin sister, Joyce, is happy to have the set because it’s full of memories, she said.