After Tally Sepot was killed last fall in an automobile accident, Matthew Lombardi came up with the idea of building a memorial for her. Lombardi is a senior at Branford High School and was a close friend of Sepot.

It was decided that tulips would serve as a living memorial to sit next to the tennis courts at BHS, where Sepot had been captain of the team the prior year. Lombardi raised $3,600 from the community for the project and to maintain the garden for years to come. He then reached out to the Branford Garden Club and Van Wilgen’s Garden Center for advice and volunteer help. Van Wilgen’s donated the bulbs for the garden project. On Oct. 17, there were a total of 32 volunteers helping to put together the memorial.