On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, during the regular City Council meeting, Mayor Chuck Grassie read a special proclamation celebrating Arbor Day in the City of Rochester:
WHEREAS, In 1872 J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of 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 observed throughout the nation and 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 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; and
WHEREAS, Rochester has been recognized for twenty-four years as a Tree City USA member, by the National Arbor Day Foundation, and desires to continue its tree-planting ways.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Chuck Grassie, by the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Rochester, in the State of New Hampshire do hereby proclaim that April 24, 2026 is ARBOR DAY in the City of Rochester and I do support our community’s efforts to protect our trees and woodlands, and to support our City’s efforts to maintain our environment by planting trees to gladden the hearts and promote the well-being of present and future generations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand and caused to be affixed the Seal of the City of Rochester this the 7th Day of April in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty-six
Chuck Grassie
Mayor
