Adrian Morris died in a car crash in August 2004 but her vibrant spirit lived on Saturday night at a fundraiser in her honor.
Held at Traverse City West Senior High School, the Continuing Adrian's Dream event drew more than 100 people for a chili dinner, live and silent auction and range of entertainment from jazz to belly dancing to pop music. The West High School drum line, of which Morris was a member, also performed during the evening.
"Adrian was a great girl, she was wonderful and very quiet but outgoing at the same time," said Pat Brumbaugh, the band director at West High School. "She was not afraid to express her opinion and was very thoughtful — she had a lot of mature insights for her age."
Morris was 17 when she died. Her classmate and fellow band member Christan DeWitt, 16, was also killed in the crash.
The second annual event raised money to help art and music students and programs at the school and in the Traverse City Area Public Schools district. A third of the proceeds will continue to seed the Adrian Memorial Scholarship Fund, an endowment set up by her parents, Penny and Loyd Morris. A Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation fund, this money is earmarked to help music students pursue their art.
The other two-thirds of the proceeds will be placed into the Continuing Adrian's Dream scholarship, which equally benefits art and music programs at West High School.
Last year the inaugural event raised approximately $6,000 and organizers believe they are on track to match that number this year. They more than doubled the number of attendees and hope that it continues to grow every year.
Reaching out to help others with these scholarships allowed Adrian's mother to move forward in her grieving. Penny Morris has also written songs about her daughter and she performed three of them during the fundraiser, receiving a standing ovation after one of them.
"I think when we're faced with the choice of how to handle a tragedy, when you take your own tragedy and use it to help someone else that's when you really start to heal," said Penny Morris. "I thought what Adrian had said about what if we could raise money for the art and music departments so that they didn't have to struggle. So I said, 'Let's do that.'"
"I know that band taught Adrian a lot about teamwork, precision and how to think as a group and also how to think as an individual," added her mother. "It just really enriched her."
Reflecting on the fundraiser, where the proceeds of last year's event helped her band attend state competition, Brumbaugh said the event also helps her students cope with the accidental deaths of Morris and DeWitt.
"They can actually see something positive that comes out of this tragedy," she noted.
Adrian Morris touched and inspired many people during her life. She had a quick mind that pursued many interests and passions. She lived life to the fullest, whether it was dancing, singing, playing music or drawing. Some of her artwork was included in the silent auction.
Shortly before she died, Morris took up belly dancing, a passion of her mother's, who now owns Beledi Global Dance Center. The pair performed together at Friday Night Live with members of the Dancers of the Rising Phoenix belly dance troupe, an experience Adrian relished and a memory her mother treasures.
"I only got to know her for a month and in that time she blew me away," said Merrie Hutchins, a member of the troupe. "She could do anything: sing in the choir, play instruments, she was a visual artist. It was amazing how quickly she learned anything."
"We kind of still in spirit dance with Adrian," she added.