Future Planning Event Marks Norfolk Now’s Tenth Anniversary

By Lloyd Garrison

Only a few days remain before Saturday, Oct. 5, when Norfolk Now hopes to fill Infinity Hall for a forum on the future.

Come Saturday, the doors will open at 9:30 for an event that begins at 10 a.m., and ends at noon. It will be followed by a complimentary light lunch in the Bistro. Seating will be limited to the first 150 guests who request lunch tickets at the door. A tent with roll-down flaps will cover guests dining on the patio in case of inclement weather.

“Rain or shine,” says Bistro Restaurant Manager Jackie Ferreira, “We are preparing enough salads, sandwich fixings, cheese and crudités to feed a full house.” Ice cream donated by Peaches N’ Cream Inc. will accompany a cake celebrating Norfolk Now’s tenth anniversary.

The paper’s editors decided to mark the anniversary with an invitation to all residents to join in examining the town’s strengths and liabilities and coming up with a realistic vision of the future over the next ten years.

As a measure of his own commitment to Norfolk’s future, Infinity owner Dan Hincks is providing the lunch at cost and the hall for free. The expense of mounting NORFOLK 2023! is being largely met by a donation from the family of the late Grenville Garside, who assisted in the paper’s founding, and by a resident of Norfolk who chose to remain anonymous.

John Dankosky, host of WNPR’s morning call-in show, “Where We Live,” will serve as host and moderator. Historical Society Curator Ann Havemeyer has produced a 15-minute visual history of how Norfolk coped with critical changes in the past, and consultant Glenn Chalder, who helped shape Norfolk’s 2009 Town Plan, will offer brief remarks setting the stage for the audience and five panelists to offer their own vision of the future.