• The chicken who wanted to be a star and other tales from a norfolk movie set

    By Andra Moss Secrets and small towns don’t often pair well, and Norfolk is a small town. Yet, for eight weeks this summer, a crew of nearly 100 people quietly transformed Tim and Paula Webster’s 1908 Norfolk farmhouse into a film set for a feature-length production, all the while staying under the local radar.  It […]

  • great blue heron rookeries

    working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn […]

  • Looking Back Over the Years

    The End of an Era for Norfolk Now By Colleen Gundlach After 10 years and over 30 issues, Ruth Melville has put on her Norfolk Now editor’s hat for the last time. In June, the paper marked the end of an era with the publication of Ruth’s final issue as one of the executive editors […]

  • A Look Into Norfolk’s Past

    Exhibit Explores Pupin’s Haven of Happiness on Westside Road By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Historical Museum graces Norfolk’s village green with the reserve and understated elegance of a New Englander well worth getting to know. Visitors who step inside will find exhibits that tell the stories of the town’s past, often with intriguing ties to […]

  • Norfolk Past and Present

    The Summer Chapel Eases Gracefully Into Its 130 Years By Elizabeth Bailey Ayreslea Rowland Denny began attending services at The Church of the Transfiguration in Norfolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. A New Yorker, she was a student at the Chapin School in New York City, but her family had been […]

  • Church Steeple Shines Once Again

    Local dignitaries and friends of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational gathered on Saturday, May 25, to formally celebrate the completion of the steeple restoration project. The Rev. Erick Olsen thanked the community for supporting the years-long effort and welcomed everyone to enjoy a splendid cake featuring an image of the steeple.

  • Making the Native… Personal

    Cheryl Heller Builds a Wild Garden in Norfolk By Joe Kelly Gardens are best when they’re personal, argued the late Fred McGourty, who remains Norfolk’s best- known plantsmen. McGourty’s 1989 book, “The Perennial Gardener,” recounts the gardens he and his wife, Mary Ann, created at Hillside, their home near Dennis Hill State Park. Were he […]

  • This Old Norfolk House

    Stevens House By Joe KellyWhen our Puritan forebears arrived on these shores in the early 1600s, they were no doubt surprised todiscover how the traditional thatched roof cottages they knew from back home were no match for thewind and cold of a typical New England winter. But it would have likely surprised them even more […]

  • Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

    By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

  • Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

    By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the late 19th century, the arrival of every train at the depot on Station Place was widely anticipated.There were freight trains, milk trains and passenger trains unloading throngs of summer visitors. Theattractive station pictured here was built in 1898, replacing an earlier modest structure. Constructed ofnative granite, it was designed by Hill & Turner, […]

Articles

SHELTER Art Show

By Bina Thomson Shelter is a concept on which Jennifer Almquist meditates often. She asks questions like “What does true shelter look like?” and “What is it like to not have it?” Her attempts to answer these questions have led her to curate an art show in the Royal Arcanum Building in Norfolk, titled SHELTER.  […]

city meadow progress

Invasives removed as town considers a new planting plan By Avice Meehan Sometimes a “closed” sign can be good news. That is certainly the case for City Meadow, where staff from Native Habitat Restoration are now treating invasive plants like phragmites and non-native cattails with a selective herbicide. Their broad-brimmed hats are barely visible above […]

Wangum on the Market

Norfolk’s Water Supply to Get New Owner By Joe Kelly Wangum Lake, the pristine, 177-acre reservoir that sits atop Canaan Mountain and supplies Norfolk with thousands of gallons of water every day, will come under new ownership thanks to the pending sale of Aquarion Water Company. Eversource Energy, better known to most people in Norfolk […]

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Selectmen Seek Conversation About Collaboration By Avice Meehan Nearly a decade after Norfolk and Colebrook failed to reach agreement on creating a new regional school district that would combine their elementary schools, the issue is back on the front burner thanks to a column from Matt Riiska, Norfolk’s first selectman. Riiska, a veteran of a […]

Haystack is Back

sixth annual festival convenes in October By Patricia Platt The chance to see and experience the world around us more deeply—whether that means understanding the stories of the trees, how the horse shaped empires or insights from wartime poets—will all been on offer during this year’s Haystack Book Festival. “We bring together in unmoderated conversation […]

Exploring natural History

C.H. Pease Museum Shines a light on Canaan’s past By Colleen Gundlach Where in North Canaan can one find a moose, a fox, an eagle, a turtle and various types of winged creatures in one place? If you know, you know. It’s the C.H. Pease Museum of Natural History right in the center of Canaan […]

Better Early Than never

Norfolk preps for early voting for general election By Andra Moss Early voting will be an option for Norfolk residents for the first time in this year’s general election. Living up to its nickname as the “Land of Steady Habits,” Connecticut had been one of only four states that did not allow early voting until […]

great blue heron rookeries

working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

Prospect of Proposed Tower Alarms South Norfolk

Residents search for answers and alternatives By Avice Meehan The letters arrived in March and residents of Old Goshen Road, Smith Road and the surrounding area thought nothing would happen. A representative of Smartlink, a company working on behalf of Verizon, was looking for a location for a new cell tower. Surely, they thought, no […]

The Body Scientific

Beech Leaf Disease and Nematodes By Richard Kessin I am used to studying diseases of animals. Like humans, vertebrates have immune systems and cells like macrophages that roam through the body to eat invaders. Trees are a whole other category: They do not make antibodies to protect themselves and they certainly cannot run away from a […]

Personal Products Program to Launch at Norfolk Food Pantry

Initiative fills a gap for women and girls By Andra Moss An increasing number of families in the Northwest Corner are turning to local food pantries to help fill the gap for basic necessities as rising prices stretch many budgets to the breaking point. The variety of offerings can be limited, though. Clients visiting the […]

A Summer Outdoors Begins with Tick Prevention

By Kelly Kandra Hughes The Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) wants everyone to be extra aware of ticks this summer. “It’s already a heavy tick season,” says NLT board member Bill Couch. “Everyone needs to take extra precautions this year.”  One of the primary concerns with tick bites is Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia bacteria spread […]