By Denise Richardson
A flowering crab-apple tree will be planted in memory of 2007 Edmeston graduate Meghan Sorbera, school officials said, and the community is welcome to attend the dedication Tuesday.
Sorbera was killed last fall near Buffalo by a hit-and-run motorist.
``It was a great loss,'' said Principal Martha Winsor on Sunday.
A dedication ceremony will be at the tree site on the front lawn of Edmeston Central School at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. In the case of rain, the ceremony will be Wednesday.
Sorbera, 19, a sophomore at Hilbert College, was walking home from work with two friends along the shoulder of South Park Avenue in the town of Hamburg at about 1:35 a.m. Oct. 18 when she was struck by a vehicle. Sorbera suffered a severe head injury, police said, and she died about six hours later at Erie County Medical Center.
John Duffy, a Buffalo-area attorney who was driving the sport utility vehicle that fatally struck Sorbera, of Burlington Flats, was sentenced in April to 2 1/3-to-7 years in state prison. Duffy pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and he was sentenced to the maximum penalty.
Sorbera was among about 45 students in the class of 2007 at Edmeston, said Christy Stanton, a school speech therapist.
Stanton said she and Maria Benjamin, who teaches third grade, were advisers for the class of 2007 for four years. They contacted Sorbera's classmates, who with faculty and staff collected donations to cover
the $300-to-$350 cost of the tree and expenses associated with a memorial stone given by Cherry Valley Memorials, Stanton said.
The tree was to be planted this week, Stanton said Tuesday.
The crab-apple tree was chosen in consultation with Sorbera's parents, who wanted a colorful tree that would show a lot of beauty, Stanton said.
Sorbera helped younger children, and her life was taken too soon, Stanton said: ``She was a very loving and caring young lady."
