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NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners
More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]
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Poolside Dispatch
Norfolk Teens on the Winning Team By Kailyn Patrick Nadeau Powered by six Norfolk athletes and 25 of their teammates, the Northwestern Regional 7 swim team held their own against Prospect’s Woodland High School in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S State Tournament on March 18 in West Hartford—until the very last race […]
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Norfolk Then…
This august group of gentlemen, heretofore identified as the original members of the Norfolk Culinary Institute, has recently been revealed to be a cadre of international spies. They operated out of a modest cabin in the Doolittle Woods, where they convene several times a year to exchange intelligence—anonymously, they thought. “Gentlemen, my a**! Buccaneers, they […]
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Local Affordable Housing Groups Pioneer New Model
Bundling projects helps meet state minimums By Leila Javitch It’s an exciting spring for affordable homes in Northwest Connecticut. Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity (LCCHO) has fit together a program to build 10 new homes on scattered sites in five northwest towns via partnerships with each town’s volunteer affordable housing group. In Norfolk, the […]
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Proposed Manor House Expansion Draws Large Crowd
Many differing views on effect of change in town center By Susan MacEachron Norfolk residents filled the Botelle School Hall of Flags on a very cold evening on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to attend the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) public hearing regarding a modification to the special permit granted in 1996 to the property known as […]
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From All Angels
Throughout the month of February, Garet&Co will be returning to Norfolk to present their third annual performance in the Battell Chapel, where each piece will be set in the round. In this presentation, titled “From All Angles”, the audience will witness the translation of three of the works presented at their fall show. “Can’t Keep […]
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Norfolk Then
Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, Librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an electrical engineer, who would be hired in 1902 to manage London’s underground railway system, converting it from steam to electricity. The Spoffords engaged the architect […]
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Sweets on the Green
A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7. Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]
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Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End
Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]
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New Meanings for a Monument
Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]
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Norfolk Then…
This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]
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Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day
plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]
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NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners
More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]
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Poolside Dispatch
Norfolk Teens on the Winning Team By Kailyn Patrick Nadeau Powered by six Norfolk athletes and 25 of their teammates, the Northwestern Regional 7 swim team held their own against Prospect’s Woodland High School in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S State Tournament on March 18 in West Hartford—until the very last race […]
Articles
Haystack Woods Secures $4 Million
State funding gets affordable housing development off the ground By Joe Kelly A plan to build a campus of compact, affordable homes on 39 acres off Old Colony Road has cleared a major hurdle: the state of Connecticut has committed nearly $4 million to start construction. The state money, combined with a roughly $2 million […]
A New Ecosystem of Conservation Organizations for Norfolk
By Cheryl Heller People tend to conform to the boundaries that surround them, whether they are state lines or the social norms that shape behavior. But as Peter Senge, a systems scientist and author noted, “All boundaries, national boundaries included, are fundamentally arbitrary. We invent them and then, ironically, we find ourselves trapped within them.” […]
Radio Norfolk?
Resident Hopes to Develop a Community Station By Colleen Gundlach With internet radio and streaming services available, do people turn the dial to listen to old-fashioned radio these days? Norfolk musician, writer and content producer Michael Cobb answers that question with a resounding “yes.” Cobb, who was a disc jockey at the Berkshire School’s radio […]
Maple Syrup Season Faced Weather Challenges
By Jude Mead Boiling sap for maple syrup, a beloved natural sweetener produced in Norfolk, is a seasonal ritual this time of year and has a longstanding cultural tradition throughout New England. This year, the treasured tradition was under threat because unfavorable weather conditions posed significant challenges to maple syrup producers. Russell Russ, property manager […]
Proposed Cell Tower Generates Many Questions
Residents of Estey Road worry about impact By Avice Meehan More than 30 people, including concerned residents of Estey Road, turned out for a March 26 informational meeting about a proposal to build a 186-foot cell tower on property located off the isolated, rural road in South Norfolk. The meeting, held at the Botelle School […]
Eversource to Sell Aquarion, Alter Ownership Structure
Will ending PURA oversight mean higher water rates? By Joe Kelly Aquarion Water Company—and by extension Norfolk’s public water system—may be about to undergo a massive shift in ownership. Eversource Energy, which purchased Aquarion in 2017 but put it up for sale a year ago amid regulatory tensions and reversals in its wind energy investments, […]
Draft School Budget Shows Modest Increase
Annual cost for Botelle School is $2.7 million By Avice Meehan The Board of Education (BOE) is considering a budget of $2,762,690 for the upcoming fiscal year, which represents an increase of 4.29 percent over this year’s adopted budget of $2,649,086. The draft budget was presented at the Feb. 11 board meeting and will be […]
Norfolk’s Superintendent to Retire
Colebrook principal also stepping down By Avice Meehan Changes in school leadership are afoot in both Norfolk and Colebrook with the nearly simultaneous but unrelated retirement announcements by the school superintendent in Norfolk and the principal of the Colebrook Consolidated School. Mary Beth Iacobelli, who became Norfolk’s superintendent in 2014, shared her decision with the […]
Future Proofing
Norfolk, Colebrook Hold Joint Meeting About Schools By Avice Meehan The Hall of Flags at Botelle Elementary School has been the scene of many important Norfolk meetings, but few have carried as much significance as the Feb. 20 joint session with Colebrook to explore how the towns might work together to address declining school enrollments. […]
Managing Tranquility: Noise Regulations 101
By Andra Moss The silent days of winter are drawing to a close, and many are anticipating the extended daylight hours and warmer temperatures that will beckon Norfolk’s denizens outdoors for a wide range of amusements. One question that came up at the Jan. 14 public hearing of the Planning and Zoning Commission on the […]
Listen Up: Libraries Reveal What’s Going On “Between the Stacks”
By Andra Moss Sometimes the most mundane exercises can lead to innovative outcomes. Take, for instance, the prosaic activity of small-town budgeting. As the board of the Falls Village David M. Hunt Library prepared to approach their town selectmen for additional funding last year, they asked residents for letters of support. The board hoped that […]
It’s Only Natural
Identifying Trees in Winter Can Be a Challenge By Jude Mead Identifying trees in winter can be a challenge, especially in places where snow covers the ground and deciduous trees stand bare. According to Dr. Mike Zarfos, the executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF), most people rely on looking at the leaves during the […]
