Unlit candles sit next to Route 24 in Chamblissburg. The lives they represent have burned out, but memories are still aflame in the hearts of close friends.
Jacob Baird and Katie Thurston died at the site Wednesday morning, when the car they were riding in collided with another vehicle.
"He would say anything to lighten your day," said Jacob Moore, a close friend of Jacob Baird. "He would make you feel better. If you're down, he'd pick you up."
Classmates like Moore say Staunton River High School will have a deep void without Baird.
"He was just the greatest kid you could ever meet in your life," said Jarrett Abbott, one of Baird's best friends. "He always walked around with a smile. Gave his all to everything he did, 100% of the time."
Abbott said Baird's identity was defined by his love of football.
"That was his life," Abbott said Thursday. "I remember the first year he ever wanted to play football and he begged his dad to let him play. After that first year he couldn't stop."
Jacob played defensive back and wide receiver at his high school. He was going to referee a rec league game this weekend called the "Harvest Bowl." Organizers have renamed that event in the 1st Annual Jacob Baird Invitational in his honor.
"If he could have been here to know that, it would have meant more than the world to him," Abbott said.
Friends of Katie Thurston call her a beautiful singer. She honed her talent in the school choir, and some might find it fitting that a concert is being organized to remember both her and Jacob.
"It's just sad," Abbott said with a pause. "A kid like Jacob doesn't come by us every day. He's truly somebody that is going to be missed."
A vigil to remember Baird and Thurston will be held Friday morning at Staunton River High School. Students will gather around a flagpole on the front lawn at 8:30 a.m.
Funeral services for Baird will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, November 19 at the Lotz Funeral Home Chapel in Vinton. A visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 17.
Services for Thurston have not been finalized as of Thursday afternoon.
