AKAK I express my appreciation to my daughter Lolene Gifford for the many hours of proofreading and careful checking of my manuscript, and to my granddaughter Laura Gubler, who came as a lifesaver at the conclusion of the book to do the technical job of indexing, and to my granddaughter Marie Gubler who read for me when eye troubles beset me. Special thanks goes to my husband Ermal, whose patience was tried to the limit with my endless typing, but who endured with good humor. I appreciate my children and grand children who have cheered me on, encouraging me to finish this work. I appreciate my sisters who have helped recall the scenes of my childhood, especially Kate for her work of art in illustrating the place where I was born.

The digital version of this book was created posthumously, after Alice's passing in 2000. The following made significant contributions to bringing Alice's book to the digital realm:

• Kendall P. Gifford—Grandson of Alice—bulk scanning of the original book, conversion to text, formatting, editing
• Aaron D. Gifford—Grandson of Alice—some scanning, conversion to text, formatting, editing, web hosting
• Andrew G. Gifford—Grandson of Alice—conversion electronic format
• Lolene G. Gifford—Daughter of Alice—conversion to electronic format