Many readers will remember Tom Nystrom. His life was full of service to the Town of Granby: Boy Scout troop leader, senior van driver, Sunday school teacher, 100-time blood donor. He drove the Marquis of Granby bus and won the Granby Congregational Church chili contest.
Not just a busy citizen of Granby, Nystrom loved the outdoors, especially cycling. With his best friend, Mike Schobinger, he rode across the U.S. at age 50, raising almost $15,000 to benefit the Marquis and the Tolland Foundation, a service organization for people with disabilities.
Those who knew him (and those who missed that experience) can visit a tree donated to the Holcomb Farm Tree Trail by his wife, Marilyn, and friends and family. The tree is a crabapple cultivar, “Donald Wyman,” recommended to Marilyn by Don Ford of Stonegate Gardens on Bushy Hill Road. Ford also donated his services in planting the tree in late April. This cultivar is resistant to normal crabapple diseases such as scab and cedar apple rust. It has red buds in the spring that open to white flowers. In the fall, it puts on a show with shiny red berries that last far into the winter. Birds feast on the berries. At present it has a two-inch diameter and will grow wider than its expected height at 20–25 feet.
The Holcomb Farm Tree Trail is an arboretum founded by the Friends of Holcomb Farm. The first trees were planted in 2018. Over 110 trees, both native and exotic, grow there now, with many more planned. All are cared for by volunteers. The Tree Trail is open to the public year-round. Parking is available at Holcomb Farm, 115 Simsbury Road. The trail starts across the street at the junction of Day Street South and heads uphill to a kiosk. Nystrom’s tree is located on a knoll to the north of the kiosk. Follow the trail as it bends to the left past the kiosk and you will see the tree near several small benches. There you may pause for a while and think about Nystrom’s full and compassionate life.