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09/28/2015 12:00 AMUPDATE: This event takes place rain or shine.
Friends of Tally Sepot, Branford High School (BHS) Class of 2014, are working with the high school athletic department to hold a memorial candlelight vigil for the BHS community on the BHS turf field Wed. Sept. 30 at 8 p.m.
The brief ceremony has been organized with the knowledge of the Sepot family by three of Tally's BHS friends and classmates, Emily Johnson, Maxine Hernandez and Jenny Royka.
"The three of us feel like a piece of us is missing. We've lost more than a friend, we've lost a sister," said Johnson.
The girls hope the gathering will be a celebration of their friend's life with words shared by those who loved and treasured her. As a BHS senior, Tally was captain of BHS Varsity Girls Tennis team. She also was a member of the Hornet's Girls Swim team.
Through news reports, the Branford community learned Sunday that the 19 year-old University of Pennsylvania sophomore lost her life during a motor vehicle accident in the early afternoon of Sept. 27. She was a passenger in a vehicle traveling back to campus with members of her sorority and brothers of a Penn State fraternity, after concluding a weekend dedicated to fundraising for children with life-threatening illnesses.
Tally's friends said they're hoping to gather former and present members of the BHS community who want to join them in celebrating Tally's life.
"We want to celebrate Tally's life with the people we went to the high school with," Royka said. "They'll stay with us forever, just like Tally will."
"The memories Tally shared with Branford will live on, and the sunshine she gave us will keep shining bright," said Hernandez.
The friends received candle donations for the vigil from First Congregational Church, where Tally was a member of the youth mission program, and St. Theresa's, where she was a parishoner.
Candles for the ceremony will be distributed at the field entrances. Contributions collected at the vigil will be given directly to Tally's family to assist them during this difficult time.
Her friends are also encouraging students and other members of the Branford community to remember to #LiveLikeTally and lead by her example to, "Smile a little more, regret a little less."