Gale Hlifka

Williamsport, Pennsyvania

This is the site of the annual Little League World Series. It is not in Williamsport but in a community directly
across the Susquehanna River.... South Williamsport. It seems that the media find it less difficult to declare otherwise.

	Our first home in Williamsport at 1026 Mulberry Street kinda sandwiched in that block between Brandon Park and Curtin Junior High School. We lived in the right side of this duplex. My youngest sister Nancy was born in the Williamsport Hospital just a few months after moving into this house.
	The Curtin Junior High School My sister Nany was the only Hook girl that did not attend school here.My Dad, who worked for the Williamsport school district, says this was the best disciplined of thethree junior high schools in town.
	Brandon Park. Mulberry Street is beneath the 'r' in Park on the map
	Second home in Williamsport at 1208 Cherry Street This is a beautiful home. But when we mooved in it required extensive rehabilitation. It required painting inside and out, the long back yard was a jungle, tons of trash was removed from the basement and the downstairs bathroom was redone. There was once an apartment upstairs so the former kitchen had to be converted to a bedroom. After all that work it was discourageing to find out that the house was haunted. But I steadfastly but uncomfortably learned to live with the ghostly occurances.
	The Cochran Grade School jut three blocks from our house is also on Cherry Street. Once Nancy was old enough she attended school here and my Mom began working in the cafeteria at this school. All we Hook girls attended school here.
	My sister Carolyn and I both graduated from the Williamsport Area High School on West Third Street. When my sister Judy graduated from the new high school. Shortly afterwards my parents and my sister Nancy moved to State College, PA while my sisters Carolyn and Judy and I remained in Williamsport. As I look back, High School was not a part of my life that I feel had any major significance. I have no complaints nor do I have any feelings of longing for those days.
	I was very proud of this achievement. It even merited a place on our refrigerator door for a number of weeks.
	Following graduation I moved into a second floor apartment in what was once a private residence. It was on West 4th Street in Williamsport but I can't remember the address. Pictured is a small part of that very long street, looking East.
	John Casson, my first husband. was one of my classmates at Williamsport Area High School. This photo, following our wedding, is unusual in two ways. Firstly, everyone except the Best Man has a glum look on their face. Secondly, my choice of a wedding dress length may seem a bit short, but at that time it was an acceptable norm.
	Another wedding picture showing John and I looking just as glum as in the photo above. Maybe it was an indication of the troubled relationship that was to come. Not too long afterwards John joined the Navy and was assigned to a base in California.