Growing up in Peekskill was enjoyable. Children were naturally part of a multi-cultural environment; and the community was unified in its search for fun, educational pursuits, and sporting victories. Peekskill High School was large, but not overwhelming (my graduating class in 1983 numbered approximately 250 students.) It is a culturally thriving city. Not because art galleries and cafes abound; rather, because of the rich flavour of ethnicity and tradition that residents have passed down over the generations. I tasted Italy years before I even thought about living here; by attending family picnics with the Baldini family at Blue Mountain Reservation. I "hablaba espanol" long before studying in Mexico during college; when I talked with the Morales and Perez families on Elm Street. I saw local "oompa" bands at the Bavarian Inn, played soccer with Geoffery from Chad, Africa...I travelled the world without ever leaving town. I may have left Peekskill, but Peekskill has never left me!