No Longer a Bell, Norfolk’s Sirens Have a Unique History
Raising the Alarm by Colleen Gundlach Since 1907, the people of Norfolk have always had some manner of audible alarm to alert their volunteer firefighters to an emergency. In the beginning, it was a large bell, and someone needed to manually pull a rope to sound the alarm. Even though many changes have occurred over […]
Commemorating 20 Years After 9/11
Norfolk gathers to dedicate a memorial to those who died By Virginia Coleman-Prisco Just as communities banded together on September 11, 2001, our local community came together this year to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the events. The Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) hosted a dedication of a 9/11 memorial on the morning of September […]
Making One’s Way Back Home
Bella Erder fights to return to Norfolk Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Mark Erder Norfolk residents since 1997, Bella and Mark Erder have always delighted in the people and community that make our small town of 1,600 such a sought-after place to live. As they both work in Hong Kong at various times throughout […]
Finding Beauty and Inspiration in Nature Forms and Energy of Life
Elizabeth Knowles creates from experience and observation Text by Michael CobbPhoto courtesy of Elizabeth Knowles Multimedia artist Elizabeth Knowles is intrigued by the beauty found in natural forms. Her work invites viewers to consider the connections between the macro and micro. For Knowles, the patterns of the Milky Way are just as interesting as the […]
Ambulance Awareness: Volunteers Needed
What does it take for them to always be there? by Jude Mead Nineteen years ago, Jon Riedeman moved to Norfolk and was attending a local venue when his friend collapsed to the floor. He had had a cardiac arrest. A bystander who was a member of the ambulance began CPR immediately. Then 911 was called and within […]
Battell Fountain Is (Nearly) Back — Bring on the Band
Months-long restoration nearing completion by Andra Moss Since 1889, the Joseph Battell Memorial Fountain has greeted travelers as they approached the Norfolk village green from the south on Litchfield Road. The fountain’s unveiling on Sept. 27 of that year was heralded by the horns of a 24-piece military band (twice, in fact, once at 3 […]
Diego Ongaro’s Latest Feature Film Shown at Cannes This Summer
Text by Ruth MelvillePhoto by Jessica Ray Harrison In Diego Ongaro’s new movie, “Down With the King,” a famous rapper, played by real-life rapper Freddie Gibbs, comes to live in the rural Berkshire countryside while he works on his new album. Dissatisfied with the pressures of his professional life, he becomes friends with a neighboring […]
Photographer Christopher Little Gives It All Away
Text by Steve MelvillePhoto by Kate Campion This summer Christopher Little packed up his entire photographic archive and shipped it to the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in Austin. There it will form part of the Briscoe’s expansive holdings in photojournalism from the mid-19th century on, joining the work of […]
How Crowdsourcing by the People is Putting History Online
Text By Kelly Kandra HughesPhotos Courtesy of the Library of Congress Betsy Garside, a resident of New Mexico with deep family roots in Norfolk, attended many of the Norfolk Library online events throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. She found them “a way to go somewhere fun,” whether it was an authors talk, a Friday afternoon chat […]
The Poetry of Sarah Anderson: A Book Launch Celebration
Text By Andra MossPhoto by Babs Perkins The old red barn on Colebrook Road was an ideal setting for the reading by Sarah Alcott Anderson from her first published book of poetry, “We Hold On To What We Can” (Loom Press). On an early August afternoon, the large crowd of invited guests, distributed in folding […]
