Being part of a community she cares deeply for and spreading her love for music, one local teacher says she is in the perfect place to do what she loves the most.

Gail Murphy grew up in Chappaqua in Westchester County, a place she recalls as a little on the fancy side. “My mother would host cocktail and dinner parties often,” said Murphy.

While in high school Murphy’s family moved to Montrose, Pa. “This was much more my style,” she explains. “It was much smaller than where we lived before and although it wasn’t the country, it had a country feel to it.”

Being one of eight children isn’t as scary as it might sound, Murphy says. “Everyone says being the middle child is the worst. When you’re young that may be true, but as you get older I find it is the best spot too,” said Murphy. “I find that I am just as close to the oldest as I am to the youngest.”

Throughout her childhood and for as long as Murphy can remember, she has had a love for music. In 1975 before venturing off to college, Gail found herself moving with her parents to Earlville and this is when she first explored Norwich. She says she liked the area and got her own place while she worked at the emergency center that was housed at the fire department.