How to Remove the Congregational Church’s Steeple — Very Carefully

Repairs to the clock tower and belfry can begin Text by Ruth Melville After years of planning, consultation and crossed fingers, the steeple on the top of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational was successfully removed last December, enabling the much-needed repair of the tower and steeple. In 2015, during routine work on the clock tower, […]

Text Amendment Proposed to Planning & Zoning Regulations

by Susan MacEachron Tracy Hayhurst, farm manager for Husky Meadows Farm, appeared before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) on Jan. 12 to request clarification of the special permit terms regarding who is allowed to participate in the country retreat, farm-to-table program Husky Meadows Farm is planning. All agreed that the current permit allows up […]

Board of Finance Hears Budget Input, Report on Fiber Optics

by Susan MacEachron At the Board of Finance (BoF) meeting on Jan. 12, chairman Michael Sconyers asked First Selectman Matt Riiska to report on the status of the selectmen’s budget. Riiska reported that the town is on target in most areas of the budget. He noted spending has been over budget on some of the […]

Berkshire Country Café is One of Five New Businesses in North Canaan

By Andra MossPhoto by Peter Chaffetz Norfolk’s own Berkshire Country Store is growing. Owner Ryan Craig has expanded his popular Norfolk location with the addition of the Berkshire Country Cafe on Main Street in North Canaan, serving breakfast and lunch Thursday through Sunday. But don’t worry, his four-year-old enterprise in Norfolk isn’t going anywhere. In […]

Annual Bird Event Counts on Norfolk Citizen Scientists

Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Savage Frieze Over four days every February, people flock to the Internet to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). The GBBC is one of the most prolific citizen science projects in the world, with 268,674 participants from 194 countries in 2020. Started in 1998 by the Cornell […]

Slip-Sliding into Winter Fun, Norfolk Style

Text by Susannah WoodPhoto by Savage Frieze Over the years, winter in the Icebox of Connecticut has been a glorious season for those of us who love skating, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Although climate change has made winter sport a chancier thing, there are still days when conditions are just right for an afternoon of […]

James Mars, Once Enslaved, to be Honored in Norfolk This Spring

A Witness to History by Rhonan Mokriski On the first day of class this past fall, I bet the juniors and seniors in my American history class that they could not name 10 famous Black Americans who were born before 1950. They quickly and confidently took up the challenge, but after a few painstaking minutes, […]

2021 Brings New Challenge for the Connecticut State Legislature

An interview with State Representative Maria Horn By Jeremy Withnall On Friday, Jan. 15, Norfolk Now interviewed Maria Horn (D), recently re-elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives for District 64, which includes Norfolk as well as much of the far northwestern corner of the state. As she starts her second term in office, we wanted to ask […]

Wiley Wood Steps Down as Editor After 10 Years at Norfolk Now

by Ruth Melville Wiley Wood doesn’t quite remember when he joined the staff at Norfolk Now—turns out it was 2010—but he does remember his first assignment, to write a profile on longtime NN staff photographer Bruce Frisch (who himself retired last year).  “I was furious,” Wood said recently. “I thought it would a stupid be […]

Snowy Norfolk a Popular Destination for Skiers, Ski Jumpers in the 1930s

By Andra Moss In February 1934, millions of moviegoers across the country were transported to Norfolk via a Fox Movietone newsreel featuring a ski-jumping meet at the well-known Norfolk Hill. The Nashville Banner announced, “Ski experts at Norfolk, Conn. stage some new thrills when they leap by twos and threes down the steep slide. The […]