Plans are well underway

By Bob Bumcrot

The Town of Norfolk was chartered on October 9, 1758, at a meeting attended by 44 residents. During the summer and fall of 1958, the town celebrated its bicentennial with music, speeches, food and exhibitions. Today, an official town committee, co-chaired by Alexandra Evans and Beth Podhajecki, is meeting regularly to plan for the semiquincentennial.

The celebrations will span many months, but the main events will take place the first weekend of August. Friday, August 1 will feature a block party followed by a fireworks display. Saturday, August 2 will begin with a parade including floats, bands, marching units, antique cars and a stagecoach, which will offer free rides. Prizes of silhouette-style garden weather vanes by Norfolk artist John Garret Thew will be awarded in four categories: Best Family Float, Best Business Float, Most Patriotic Float and Best Historical Representation. Entry applications for floats, marching units, antique cars and other participants will be distributed soon.

Activities later in the day will include old-fashioned events: sack races, square dancing and possibly a pie eating contest. The day will conclude with a concert by the renowned Coast Guard Band, whose appearance is being underwritten by Paul Hawkshaw, Director of the Yale Summer School of Music.

Activities envisioned for earlier months in 2008 include an art auction, a scavenger hunt for historical places, objects and facts and the sale of 250^th Anniversary tee shirts, polo shirts and caps. “What’s it Worth,” an evaluation of antiques by a noted professional, is tentatively scheduled for May 2. The sixth grade class at Botelle School will also be preparing materials for a time capsule to be buried beneath a stone marker at a site not yet determined.

On October 19, 1958, the Bicentennial Committee dedicated a plaque, affixed to a 15-ton boulder, on the site of the first house in town. Built in 1744 by Cornelius Brown, the first settler of Norfolk, the house stood on the west side of town, not far from the Blackberry Inn. A ceremony rededicating the plaque is under consideration as the final act of the 2008 commemoration.

The full extent of events celebrating Norfolk’s anniversary will depend in part on the response to the fund request letter sent to all residents on August 13. The committee’s existing plans already call for a budget of $20,000.  So far, nearly $8,800 in donations has been received.

The committee welcomes further suggestions, which may be offered at any regular meeting, held the second Wednesday and the fourth Tuesday of each month at 5p.m. in Town Hall. Suggestions may also be sent to the co-chairs, Secretary Judy Ludwig, or any other members of the board: Richard Byrne, Ann Marie Calder, Josh DeCerbo, Ayerslea Denny, Carl Gundlach, Hartley Mead and Arthur Rosenblatt.