'Right Thing to Do' Area senior earns volunteer honor

Throughout the unusually hot summer, the young trees at the Old Union Cemetery got much-needed water every other morning.

The cemetery has no hoses or faucets, being nearly 200 years old. So to ensure the 27 recently planted trees lived through the drought, Tom Thomson hand-watered them every day.

For Thomson, it was worth it to haul gallons of water to each tree to honor those who are buried there.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said.

For Thomson, giving back to the community is as much a part of life as tinkering in his workshop or going to church. He helps elementary school students work on reading and collects books for local youth. When area seniors need a ride to a doctor’s appointment or the supermarket, he picks them up.

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