Candles flickered as a light snow fell on a huddled crowd outside of Westhill High School on Saturday night.

More than 150 people gathered to honor the memory of Anna Pullano, a Westhill senior killed earlier that morning in a car accident with a Centro bus near Syracuse University.

She was 18.

“What happened is certainly a tragedy we’re all feeling deeply,” principal Lee Roscoe said quietly to the crowd.

The vigil started at about 9:30 p.m. and the crowd — which included family, friends, classmates and Westhill employees — slowly grew during the next half hour.

Pullano’s school photo was fixed to a tree in front of the school, and mourners individually stepped forward to place flowers and candles below it. A moment of silence was held at 10 p.m., and was shortly followed by a performance of “Amazing Grace.” Some stood silently, while others embraced one another and cried.

Roscoe addressed the gathering twice, thanking all for coming and supporting the Pullano family.

The vigil was mostly silent. Many sobbed and consoled each other while all gathered closer and closer to the tree that memorialized Pullano.

People who spoke at the candlelight vigil described Pullano as a caring person who was always happy, smiling and friendly to everyone. They said she was recognizable by her beautiful, blue eyes.

“I think she’d like to be remembered as someone who was always nice to everyone, no matter what anyone else thought of you,” Westhill student Holden White said.

White said Pullano was the first person to greet him in the hall at Westhill during his freshman year, and made him feel welcome at the school.

Phoebe Langdon and Bri Linton, both seniors, played on the girl’s varsity tennis team with Pullano.

“She was just so friendly all the time,” Langdon said. “She was like the perfect human being.”

They both said Pullano mentored members of the team. She was also energetic and known for her antics.

Langdon said Pullano would order pizza during matches, and would also bring a rotisserie chicken for their coach before every game.

One time during practice, Linton said, Pullano made members of the team dress like tigers and crawl across the court to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”

“If we were having a bad day, she would be right there to cheer us up and make us laugh,” Linton said.

At about 10:30 p.m. the mourners held up their candles in unison. They said, “To Anna,” raised the candles to the sky, and then softly blew out the flames.

Published on March 3, 2013 at 1:15 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum