After Devastating Fire, Lone Oak Campsites Begins Reconstruction
East Canaan’s Brown family has invincible optimism By Colleen Gundlach “In the midst of winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer.” So said French philosopher Albert Camus, but it could also have been said about the Brown family of East Canaan. Less than a month after a fire completely destroyed their […]
Foundation Helps Send Norfolk Kids to Camp and Norfolk Seniors to College
Residents encouraged to apply By Babs Perkins In this age of rising college tuitions and summer camp fees, as school budgets for music, art and culture diminish and the need in our community surges, the Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation is quietly doing its part to mitigate costs. One of the lesser known not-for-profits in […]
Town Democrats Gear Up for First Selectman Race
First Selectman Sue Dyer, a Democrat, has announced that she will not seek re-election this fall. She is currently serving her ninth term, having first been elected in 1999. Leo Colwell, a longtime selectman, declared his candidacy late last year, and, at a Democratic Town Committee meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16, Matt Riiska threw his […]
Freshman Lawmaker Brian Ohler Heads to the State Capitol
Republican state representative to focus on state and local issues By Ruth Melville On cold sunny morning in February, Brian Ohler, state representative for the 64th District, sat down at the Berkshire Country Store to talk with Norfolk Now about his first weeks in office. Ohler describes his first month as “a whirlwind experience.” […]
Thrift Shop in Winsted Gives $3,000 to Norfolk Ambulance
Director asks for donations of clothing and household items By Wiley Wood The thrift store is behind a modest shop front on a side street in Winsted. The contents are the familiar assortment of men’s and women’s clothing on racks, children’s toys, hardback books, slightly battered sports equipment and delicate knickknacks. On a weekday […]
Real Estate Transactions—Dec. 2016 and Jan. 2017
Dec. 5, 2016: Loyal B. & Valerie Starr to Wells Fargo Financial America Inc., 988 Litchfield Rd., for $0. Jan. 18, 2017: Holly Gill, Trustee, to Gillian Bagley & Ralph Colt Bagley IV, 107 Laurel Way, for $300,000. Jan. 23, 2017: Babette H. Barrett to Vishal P. Grover, 53 Greenwoods Rd. East, for […]
School Board Proposes Flat Budget as Costs Rise and State Aid Dwindles
Town ponders an increase in property taxes By Wiley Wood If the town accepts the budget passed by the Board of Education on Feb. 8, it will be the fifth year in a row that the Botelle School has been flat-funded or seen an actual decrease in its funding. The Board of Finance, which […]
A New England Pastor, a Dutch Classicist and a Roman Stoic in One Book
Treasures From the Rare Book Room By Lucy Mookerjee Plenty of Norfolkians know a rare bird when they see one. But many birders would be hard-pressed to identify the markings of a “rare” book. What makes a rare book rare? It depends—age, scarcity, market value. Whether you’ve spotted it or not, the Norfolk Library […]
Norfolk’s January 2017 Weather
Another Warm January By Russell Russ Just when it seemed that winter had us firmly in its grasp we got a little break. We all thought last January was warm, but this January was over 3 degrees warmer. Snowfall was well below average, but it was several inches more than last year’s amount. The […]
Busy Hands, a Ball of Yarn, a Crackling Fire
If you see a small, fuel-efficient car in Norfolk with the bumper sticker “Knit Happens,” that’s likely to be Ruth Melville. She took part in the yarn bombing of Torrington last summer—a form of street art—and last November started the Norfolk Knitters, a group that knits hats, scarves and mittens for distribution at emergency shelters. […]
