Flowers and handwritten notes have grown around the stump of a white birch brought down by high winds, killing 10-year-old Christian Gualtieri while he was trick-or-treating in Pelham on Oct. 31.

The day after Christian was pronounced dead at the Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell, Mass., a single arrangement of flowers and a handwritten note reading “We love and miss you Christian” marked the location of the tragedy at 14 Fineview Circle. A silent vigil of teddy bears and stuffed animals now rings the stump. Others placed bouquets of flowers and homemade cards.

“We will miss you, our prayers will go out to your family,” reads one. “Don’t think of him as gone away. His journey has just begun. Rest in peace,” read another.

Christian was trick-or-treating near his Susan Drive home trick-or-treating with about 20 neighborhood children when a strong gust of wind snapped the tree about 6:35 p.m., authorities said. He was at the end of a driveway away from the other children.

Nancy Gualtieri, Christian’s grandmother, said his loss devastated the family.

“We’re not doing well at all,” she said, who struggled to maintain her composure.

Gualtieri described her grandson as a wonderful boy with a great personality. He was caring, funny and an athlete. The night he died, Christian dressed up as a clown, she recalled.

“He was my baby and I took care of him a lot when he was little,” Gualtieri said. “He was what a grandmother would always want in a grandson.”

Christian was a fifth-grader at Saint Jeanne d’Arc School in Lowell, Mass., his grandmother said, and would have celebrated his 11th birthday Nov. 5.

“There is no rational explanation for this tragedy,” wrote Sister Prescille Malo, Christian’s principal, in a statement. “His smile was contagious and affability was his trademark. As a faith community we will deal with this challenge in prayer and mutual support.”

In the wake of Christian’s death, grief counseling is available at the school, Malo said. Counseling also is available at Pelham Elementary, according to principal Alicia LaFrance.

A few students asked to speak with counselors yesterday, LaFrance said. Parents were alerted to the accident by the school’s e-mail system Sunday, she said.

Though he attended private school, Pelham school officials are treating Christian’s death as they would the loss of any student in the community, said Frank Bass, superintendent of schools. In the days ahead, Bass plans to reach out to the family.

Christian’s parents could not be reached for comment.

Neighbor Joanne Anderson echoed Christian’s grandmother, calling the tragedy “devastating.” “It’s the timing,” she said. “It could have fallen at any time, and it picked that time. As a Christian, I have to believe that God allowed it to happen.”