A cold final day of April with gale force winds didn’t stop the Arbor Day tree planting in Corbett Park. Early that morning, Brockport’s DPW delivered 16 trees to their respective locations, digging the holes for each with their tree planting power auger. A DEC urban forestry grant paid for the removal of 30 dead ash trees from Corbett Park and the new replacement plantings of Tupelos, London Planetrees, Tulip trees, and Pink Horse Chestnuts.
Later that morning, the Village Tree Board gathered at the park, joined by volunteer tree planters from SUNY Brockport’s women’s field hockey and basketball teams and their coaches, members of the Village Board, the Village Manager and Mayor, County Legislator Jackie Smith, the Parks Committee, and some Corbett Park neighbors. Brockport’s Region 4 DEC forester, Gary Koplun, made an appearance before heading to another Arbor Day celebration in Rochester.
Since 2006, the village has partnered with the college for its Arbor Day event. The College facilities crew arrived with shovels, demonstrated to the volunteers how to plant a tree, and supervised the planting. Kevin Rice, Director of Facilities Maintenance and Operations at SUNY Brockport, represented the college at the event. Before the tree planting, Bill Heyen, internationally recognized poet and SUNY Brockport emeritus, was persuaded to read his “Emancipation Proclamation,” the Tree Board’s favorite tree poem. Hanny Heyen, a 20-year member of the Parks Committee and its former chair, was honored on Arbor Day with a certificate of recognition for her contributions to Brockport’s parks. The volunteers scattered to their trees, and within an hour, had planted all 16 trees.
Tree Board members tied colorful laminated “Hug a Tree” signs to several different species of mature park trees inviting the youngest visitors to Corbett Park to become tree huggers. One read, “Hi, I’m a Littleleaf Linden. The Vikings used my wood to make shields. Today it’s used for pencils—boooring! Spread the love and give me a hug.”
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Photos by Ashley Gray
