Telegraph photo by ADAM URQUHART Nashua resident Tom Cassin and eldest daughter Sandi Dei Dolori sit together on a couch inside his home Friday afternoon, moments after lighting his outdoor Christmas trees.

NASHUA – For several years, Nashua resident Tom Cassin, 82, has followed the tradition of lighting up a large tree on his property each Christmas season, illuminating the intersection of Charlotte Street and Charlotte Avenue for the enjoyment of neighbors.

He began this tradition more than 20 years ago when he and his children were younger, and of course, the tree was much smaller.

At the start, one of his daughters, Sandi Dei Dolori said the tree stood about 10 feet tall. Today, it towers over Cassin’s home, which sits on family land – the old Vanderlosk apple tree farm. The lights strung up delicately among the trees branches have since been damaged by critters, through the years, although they received an upgrade this year.

“We just have a lot of traditions in our family and that tree is one of them,” Dei Dolori said.

Her great grandparents built the original farmhouse at 2 Charlotte St. in the early 1900s, some time around 1912 after immigrating to the U.S. from Poland, which at that time, was part of Russia. Dei Dolori’s family grew up on the farm, which was originally an apple orchard and working farm. Later, her great-uncle gave her parents land when they married, and the Christmas tree seen today was planted in front of the house.

“When he started lighting it, it might have been 10 feet tall, and it’s been a tradition in the neighborhood ever since,” Dei Dolori said.

This year as a gift to her father, they hired The New England Holiday Light Co. to spruce things up on the tree.

“The tree got to be beyond our ability to put lights on it. It just kept growing, and over the last five to eight years, we had a guy come with a truck and a lift and put some lights on it, but never to the extent as this year,” Cassin said.

Moreover, those interested can drive by 60 Charlotte St. and admire the tree, which lights up at around 4:45 p.m. each day.

“The tree has given so many people so much happiness, and we have heard from many neighbors, and friends about how much they appreciate the lights,” Dei Dolori said.

She is Cassin’s eldest daughter, and she and her two sisters Michelle and Kristen, take turns caring for their father. However, while her sisters are both living locally in the neighborhood, she actually flies in from Munich, Germany every few weeks to care for her father, which is about a seven-hour flight. She is now home through Christmas, and is happy to have heard positive feedback about the tree.

“It makes us happy that it makes other people happy,” Dei Dolori said. “That’s the main thing.”

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