Picking through photographs of my mother, Mary Strahosky Sudor, and father, Milan Sudor, my sister, Janet and my brother, Rick, was like living those years all over again. 

While the “Growing Up in Hershey” program concentrated on my father and his time with the PA State Police and the PA State Police Rodeo, my mother’s story was interesting, too. She came to Hershey and worked at the Cocoa Inn and The Hotel Hershey as a waitress, graduated from the Hershey Junior College, and then was one of the first women business owners in downtown Hershey, with a children’s clothing shop called, "The Marita Shop". This was a combination of her name, Mary, and her partner’s name, Rita.

Growing up in Hershey with my father as a PA State Policeman gave us opportunities to ride horses at the PA State Police Academy with my father on weekends. That is where my love of horses started and continues to this day!

The PA State Police Rodeo was the highlight of the summer at the Hershey Stadium. My father had many roles in the Rodeo over the years…trick rider, precision horse rider, and finally announcer of the Rodeo. He used the pipe that he smoked to tap the microphone in the announcer’s stand during the Rodeo’s clown act when they needed a loud noise. We sat with him in the announcer’s stand, and saw the rodeo from a very different perspective!

Sadly, my father passed away in 1998. My mother still lives in Hershey.

People still stop me to say how much they enjoyed the “Growing Up in Hershey” program…it’s part of a series of towns featured, but this was "our town”!