PINE BUSH – On the day after Thanksgiving, a commemorative service was held at the Goodwill Church in Montgomery to remember Tasia Quackenbush, who died in a car accident one year ago.

A week before the service, Alycia Geiss, the intoxicated driver of the car in which Tasia Quackenbush died, was sentenced in County Court in Kingston. She will serve six months in jail, and five years of probation after being convicted of Second Degree Vehicular Manslaughter. Earlier, Geiss had entered a guilty plea on this charge. Geiss must also pay for the funeral expenses for Tasia Quackenbush.

Judge Richard Sise explained that he had granted youthful offender status to Geiss because he believed that, given a second chance, she could live a positive life and abide by the law. He also noted that Geiss had no other criminal record, had cooperated with the authorities and had shown remorse.

On the night before the deadly accident, Geiss had been drinking at a party. The accident took place several hours later in the morning.

Friends and family of Tasia Quackenbush spoke about Tasia and the devastating effect of losing a loved one to an automobile accident.

"She was a very old soul, and she knew a lot about life," said Crystal Warms. Another friend said, "I will never meet anybody like her again, in the rest of my life. She was one of a kind."

Warms said, "This has been a hard year; we already lost two classmates in car accidents. The biggest thing I've learned is that life is really short. It's a precious thing and can be gone in a second."

In 2008, 37,261 Americans died in car accidents, the lowest total since 1961, according to the US Department of Transportation. Despite the downward trend, the death toll still looks like something from a war. Despite cars being safer than they were in 1961, drivers still make mistakes and do things they shouldn't, including drinking and driving.

Alycia Geiss probably didn't realize how impaired her driving was when she picked up Tasia and another friend as they drove off to find some breakfast. But at 1 p.m. that afternoon, hours after the accident, Alycia's blood alcohol was at or above the legal limit.

"Think about those who might be left behind," said one of Tasia's friends at the memorial. "Drinking and driving is not only dangerous for you, but think about your family and friends, if something happened."

"If I came on a friend who was planning to drink at a party," said Crystal, "I would say, if you're going to drink then stay there at the party. Don't drive."

It should be noted that the Pine Bush area is not known for wild parties.

"We don't party like that. It's more that we just get together with friends and hang out. It's not like a destructive thing where people drink and do stupid things," said one friend of Tasia Quackenbush.

"Really, we have a lot of bonfires," said Crystal. "Anything we do is usually outside, and there's not a lot of drinking or anything."

Lisa Miller, Tasia's mother, said, "Tasia knew enough to get a friend to drive her home from the party. She did the right thing on that night. I would just wish that other kids would do the same."

Mrs. Miller added, "One huge concern of mine was addressed by the judge. He told Alycia that when she goes to area schools to talk to students about the dangers of drinking and driving, which is a condition of her probation, that she include the effects of the day after. Because if you drink that much, it will take a long time to wear off."

At the hearing in Kingston, Alycia Geiss admitted to drinking eight beers as well as taking a number of drinks from a bottle of hard liquor. The human body normally takes an hour or so to metabolize the alcohol in one beer.

"At the end of the day," said Lisa Miller. "I would just hope that kids would take the lesson from this. Tasia didn't need to die."