Dyer to the Rescue

Sue Dyer stepped away from her role as Norfolk’s First Selectman almost a decade ago, but that doesn’t mean she won’t answer a cry for help from Town Hall. Just ask Barbara Gomez, who serves as secretary to the Board of Selectman and worked with Dyer for many years. When the big snowstorm blasted through town at the end of January, Gomez and First Selectman Henry Tirrell realized they needed to activate the coils on the building’s roof to melt the snow. But where was the switch? Gomez tried and failed to reach Matt Riiska, who left office last November. Her next call was to Dyer, now living in Missouri. Of course she knew the answer, which involved flipping something in the Town Hall fuse box and another switch in the basement. Problem solved—and just in time for the storms of February.

A Man of Many Talents

Norfolk residents may know Michael Halloran as an experienced masonry contractor. Or they may have encountered him during his 13-year tenure as the town’s zoning and wetlands enforcement officer. But do they know him as an artist? That aspect of Halloran’s life and work is on display (and for sale) at the IceBox Café. The colorful, contemporary images offer a welcome contrast to the snowfilled landscape just outside the door.

Halloran said he first put paint on canvas three years ago, in part because he had so many frames and canvas in his garage. “I was afraid when I died my wife and kids would wonder why I saved all this ‘stuff’ and just throw it away,” he said in an email. Halloran said he loves colors and abstract, geometric forms. More importantly, he noted, “it is giving me great pleasure to repurpose something and find it gives pleasure to others.

Berkshire Store Goodies

Ryan Craig isn’t certain the winners have claimed their gift certificates after the last big storm, but said he enjoys supporting the blizzard-measuring contest organized by Norfolk’s emergency management crew. As noted in the “Norfolk Conn. Past & Present” Facebook group, some 200 guesses were submitted for the Feb. 22-23 storm. Fifteen guesses came within a half inch of the 14.2-inch total reported by Russell Russ at Great Mountain Forest, with one lucky person getting the amount just right. “It makes for a good time,” said Craig. So winners, claim your prizes! And while you are at it, order a sandwich and enjoy the snowy scene from a window seat.

Dumpster in Town Center

What a difference a month makes. It was only Sunday, Feb. 1, when Heidi Forler and a group of helpers began moving furniture and equipment out of the now-former Norfolk Pub. By month’s end, the big glass windows were covered by brown paper, and a large dumpster was parked outside the entrance in the Royal Arcanum building. Workers could be seen filling it with materials. “Nothing’s changed. [We’re] just doing the work to bring everything up to code,” said Dev Auja, CEO of Bode and one of the building’s owners through the non-profit American Folk & Heritage LLC.

Editor’s Note

Norfolk Now reported incorrectly in the February issue that the Rev. Erick Olsen is a veteran. He is not. Olsen, pastor of the United Church of Christ, delivered remarks at a December observance of “Wreaths Across America.” He spoke eloquently about his father, who was a veteran.