Flowers were hung on the tree trunk at the site of the automobile accident which took the life of Shelburne resident Zeke Kassel last Friday morning.

A headline's meaning was never more apt and poignant. With the death of Zeke Kassel last week, a collective pall befell the town. The Champlain Valley Union High School student was killed in a car accident on his way to school Friday morning on the Shelburne Hinesburg Road, barely over the Hinesburg town line. Left behind, in tandem with life's unanswerable questions, is a community's shared sadness and the unfathomable grief of the young man's family and friends. 

Zeke's obituary is in this week's Shelburne News. His family has planned a memorial service which will be held Sunday afternoon, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. at the Old Lantern, 3260 Greenbush Rd. in Charlotte.