Bluffton turns 2nd anniversary of student's tragic death into 'Day of Grace'

Bluffton High School students gathered before school opened Monday to remember the late Grace Sulak and to hear a proclamation by Bluffton's mayor making May 7 "A Day of Grace" in her honor.

Sulak, a 14-year-old River Ridge Academy student who was a member of the Bluffton High School track team, was killed in a May 7, 2016, hit-and-run crash on I-26 in Calhoun County while returning from a track meet in Columbia.

She was riding in a car with her best friend, Emma Dewey, and Dewey's mother, Andrea Dewey, who were injured when their vehicle struck a tree after being run off the road by a driver who fled the scene.

That driver remains at large.

"This is her family's way of really keeping a name alive, but in such a wonderful way" said Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka after the ceremony, "and we were absolutely in favor of making her own special day, so every May 7th will be 'A Day of Grace' from this point forward."

Grace's mother, Kristen Sulak, said the day is about the community "coming together and sharing small acts of kindness and love and letting it spread throughout the community because that's what Grace was all about."

Bluffton's May River High School, the high school Sulak would have attended, also held a ceremony in honor of Grace.

Kristen Sulak said other area schools, both public and private, celebrated Grace's life in some way on Monday.

Each participating school is mounting some kind of campaign, she said, whether raising money for charitable donations in Grace's name, or performing acts of kindness. The purpose is to ensure that "something greater" comes out of her loss.

Jay Karr: 843-706-8150

This story was originally published May 7, 2018 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Bluffton turns 2nd anniversary of student's tragic death into 'Day of Grace'."