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March 6, 2008

Songs for Torri: Eight-hour concert honors teen who died in crash; benefits safe driving program

By Michelle Morrissey

You may not know the story of Torri Wightman. Sadly, though, it might sound familiar.

Torri was a creative, artistic 16-year-old who loved music and performing, as well as modeling and taking pictures. She wrote poems and made videos.

Torri was the only child of her mother, Lucy, whom she lived with in Hingham. And on May 16, 2006, Torri decided to skip school to hang out with three friends — a decision that would end her life.

With one of her friends behind the wheel of the car, the roads slick with rain, the girls' car hydroplaned and slammed into a van. No one was wearing a seatbelt. Torri was killed.

Since then, Lucy has been working hard to make sure other parents of teens don't have to go through what she goes through every day.

Toward that end, Torri's family created a memorial fund, originally designed to buy art supplies for students. When money began pouring in, however, they realized there was a better way to spend it: teaching kids how to survive on the roads.

On Sunday, musicians from the North and South shores will gather in Salem for a concert to raise money for the Torri Wightman Safe Driving Fund.

The event will be held from noon to 8 p.m. at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. It's organized by Lucy, with the help of Tracy Rotkiewicz, a Connecticut resident, and Morgan Huke of Gloucester.

Rotkiewicz became involved not because she knew the Wightman family, but because she is a big fan of Aerosmith (Torri's father, Donald, works with the legendary band).

"I usually go to a particular Aerosmith message board, and there were tributes to Torri," Rotkiewicz explained. "I saw the picture of her, and I just felt like doing something. ... I wanted to just do something really good."

Rotkiewicz pulled her friend Huke into the organizing crew, asking him to call his contacts to get folks together to play the show. Huke is a concert organizer.

"Everyone seems really excited about this. There's a good cross-section of talent that's playing," said Huke, adding that some of the musicians are from Salem, Marblehead and Beverly. "It's a nice gathering of people, all for a good cause."

Rotkiewicz said she's gotten to know Lucy Wightman by keeping in touch through the Internet, especially through Lucy's Web site.

"There's so much to learn from it, to learn about Torri. It's heartbreaking, too," said Rotkiewicz. "You don't know (Torri), but you feel you do just through what her mother has written."

As the two-year anniversary of Torri's death approaches in May, Lucy says the second year is, in some ways, harder than the first without her daughter.

"You know, you realize that if one can transform some shocking, tragic, traumatic event into something positive, that's a very healing thing," Lucy said.

After Torri's death, the South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell — where she was a junior — mandated an advanced driving course for students who want to drive to school. It's part of the health curriculum.

Lucy is hoping that other schools follow suit.

"It's really different than what we were taught to drive," she said. "My hope is that ultimately it would become a mandated law. If kids don't have the skill to get out of a bad situation, it doesn't matter how many hours of driving they've had."

Lucy said she knew Torri was artistic, but sadly, she is getting to know more about her as she reads through her papers.

"Like any other 16-year-old, she kept things to herself. Over time, I started discovering these things about her that I didn't know, like what an incredible film editor she was, and all of her songs she recorded."

Lucy also said Torri "was quite a trickster."

"She recorded all of her prank calls, some of which were really brilliant," Lucy said, then laughed. "She was very adventuresome, very deep and sensitive. Who knows what possibilities she could have moved toward."

If you go

What: Torri Wightman Safe Driving Fund Benefit Concert

When: Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.

Where: Hawthorne Hotel, Salem

How much: A donation of $15 is requested

Other details: From 10 a.m. to noon, WMWM 91.7 FM radio station will feature interviews with the artists, as well as staff from In Control Advanced Driver Training, a company that teaches driving courses. The day will also feature a raffle and a silent auction to benefit the fund.

The performers

The lineup for the eight-hour benefit is impressive, including Inge Berg, the Sugar Blues, Henley Douglas Jr. and Soul Force, Annette Dion, Ric St. Germain, Sal Baglio, Mike O'Connell and Tim Pike, Greg Tower and Jenifer Tobiasz, The Moes, Steven Spungin, Se–or Prefecto and Christine Ohlman.

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Songs for Torri: Eight-hour concert honors teen who died in crash; benefits safe driving program
by By Michelle Morrissey , , Thu Mar 06, 2008, 07:56 AM EST
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