By Ruth Melville

Norfolk decided to throw a party—and people came! By all measures, last month’s Weekend in Norfolk was a resounding success.

When the Weekend in Norfolk (WIN) coordinating committee, Sue Frisch, Holly Gill and I, set up the welcome tent on the green on Friday, our expectations were high but a bit uncertain. We’d tried to get the word out—via print and radio ads, Facebook, press releases, a website—and several of the local newspapers had run articles announcing the event (we were “Deal of the Day” on the Hartford Courant’s weekend page!), but you’re never sure how many people you’ve been able to reach. And the weather forecast was iffy, especially for Saturday, when several of the outdoor events were scheduled.

I think it wasn’t until the first visitors started showing up at the tent that afternoon that we fully believed WIN was going to happen. It was a lovely, warm afternoon, and when an impromptu group (some of whom felt inspired to sing or dance along) gathered around Grant Mudge and Bill Eckert playing music on the village green, the omens were good.

On Saturday, when even as we opened up the tent under gray skies we saw cars pulling over to park, we thought this might turn out okay after all. People showed up asking for maps or directions or water, and we finally started to relax and enjoy the weekend. Soon the green was dotted with groups of kids leaf printing, playing games, getting their faces painted and eating watermelon, and volunteers in the tent were busy directing visitors to the quilt show in the church or to the art exhibits at the library and the Art Barn.

That afternoon, as people crisscrossed the town—from Town Hall down to Station Place and up to the Battell Stoeckel Estate, from the Historical Museum across the green to the Congregational Church—Norfolk shone at its brightest. It took the creativity and commitment of over 30 organizations and businesses, each working to put together its own event, to attract so many people to town.

By Sunday afternoon—after the excitement of the ice cream social and the U.S. Coast Guard Band—things were starting to quiet down. As I walked across Station Place to my car, a few people were scattered around Robertson Plaza, quietly listening to Collins & Bradley playing music outdoors—an idyllic scene bringing the weekend full circle.

So far, feedback from town groups has been overwhelmingly positive. The Historical Museum had a record number of visitors, both out-of-towners and “first-time” Norfolkians who had never been to the museum before. The annual Norfolk Artists & Friends exhibition had a fabulous turnout, according to organizer RuthAnn Olson, and Jim Nelson told us that it was the largest audience they’ve ever had for the Coast Guard Band. All told, the Yale music program had more than 1,500 people attend their events that weekend.

Businesses, too, all did well. Infinity Hall sold many more dinners thatn usual on Saturday night, and Wood Creek Bar & Grill and Station Place Café also did good business and ran out of some dishes. The Artisans Guild and Bella Erder’s pop-up Aija boutique had excellent sales.

Local newspapers have helped to spread the good word. The Winsted Journal put a big picture of the watermelon-eating contest on the front page and ran six articles with more pictures inside. The Register Citizen also featured WIN on its front page, running an article with pictures, one of Ted Briggs talking with Schuyler Thomson and Abby Burbank on Station Place.

We’ve only started looking at the surveys we handed out over the weekend, but they too have been universally favorable, with several respondents urging the town to do this again next year. Someone from Litchfield wrote in the comments section, “a beautiful town full of very friendly people.”

But we still want to hear from you. If you haven’t done so already, please fill out the online survey (www.weekendinnorfolk.org) by September 8. All surveys that include an email address will be entered in a drawing to win one of two prizes offered by Infinity Hall, a pair of tickets or a gift certificate.