Today, Mayor Rodrigues’s Deputy Chief of Staff Nelson Fernandes joined the Planning and Economic Development team and community members for the annual Arbor Day tree planting ceremony. This year’s tree, a Kwanzan Japanese Cherry, was planted at D.W. Field Golf Course.
The event carried added significance beyond the annual tradition. In 2008, longtime golf course groundskeeper Michael Hamill, who dedicated 20 years to caring for the course, passed away, and a tree was planted in his memory. After that tree was recently lost, this newly planted cherry tree now stands as its replacement, continuing to honor his legacy.
The City of Brockton is a designated “Tree City” by the Arbor Day Foundation. One of the requirements of maintaining this designation is the annual ceremony and proclamation. For more information on the Tree City designation, visit the Arbor Day Foundation.
Thank you to Brockton’s Parks Commissioner Tim Carpenter and DPW Commissioner Pat Hill for always making the Arbor Day tree planting ceremony a success.
The Arbor Day Proclamation reads as follows:
Mayoral Proclamation
WHEREAS: In 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for planting trees; and
WHEREAS: This holiday, called Arbor Day, was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska; and
WHEREAS: Arbor Day is now recognized throughout the world; and
WHEREAS: Trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife; and
WHEREAS: Trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and countless other wood products; and
WHEREAS: Trees in our City increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community; and
WHEREAS: Trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Moises M. Rodrigues, as Mayor of the City of Brockton, hereby proclaim April 24, 2026 in the City of Brockton as:
Arbor Day
I urge all residents of the City of Brockton to join me celebrating this day.
Signed and sealed this 24th day of April, 2026.
Moises M. Rodrigues, Mayor
City of Brockton