On November 20th, 2009 Viviana Rose Cavalli was killed in a car accident which also claimed the life of her boyfriend, and injured her best friend. The community in Shelton, which is a tight knit, and incredibly supportive community came together to support the families of the children involved in the crash. Only a short time later, the Tutka and Cavalli families still find themselves grieving the loss of their bright and vibrant daughter Viviana who was taken from this world way before her time.
In honor of the life of Viviana, her mother Dee, and other community leaders are coming together to form the Shelton Butterfly project. A memorial foundation in the name of Viviana to not only help prevent a tragedy like this from happening again, but to provide two $2,500 scholarships to Shelton High School seniors in memory of Viviana who graduated herself from Shelton High School in 2009.
To apply for this scholarship, high school seniors will have to write an essay surrounding a question about drinking and driving. The essays will be read by the Cavalli and Tutka families and the two best essays will determine the recipients of the scholarship.
In correlation to the scholarship fund, The Shelton Butterfly Project will also be selling butterflies to be release on the downtown River Walk on June 13th. The painted lady butterflies are $20 each, and can be released in the name of Viviana, or any loved one. With each release, the name of the person whose memory they are being released in will be read.
Anytime from 12noon on June 13th till 3pm people can visit the River walk and release their butterflies, or simply gather in the memory of Viviana. If the Butterfly release is rained out on June 13th, the event will be canceled and on Monday June 14th, the butterflies will be delivered to local elementary schools for the children to release as they are insects and cannot be stored to a different date.
To order any butterflies, you can contact Dee Tutka directly at petertutka@yahoo.com. Orders will be collected until May 30th.
