Richard Byrne Retires as Active Firefighter
After 58 years, veteran status By Joseph Kelly He was a young Navy veteran, about to be married and ready to start a family in his hometown when, in February 1968, his older brother convinced him to join the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD). For Richard Byrne it was the start of an association that […]
Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus Will Benefit Local Food Banks
Three Grammy nominees to perform at Infinity Hall By Colleen Gundlach On April 11, Infinity Hall will be the setting for Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus, a concert that will benefit Stock the Shelves, an outreach of United Way of Northwestern Connecticut. The Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus will feature three Grammy nominees […]
How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning
By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]
Botelle Fine Tunes at Mid-Year
By Avice Meehan The Board of Education received a mid-year snapshot of student performance and growth from Botelle Principal Lauren Valentino at its Feb. 24 meeting as part of a packed agenda that also included reports on completion of elevator repairs and praise for the “Blizzard of Fun” program during Weekend in Norfolk. Staff and […]
Chance Comment Yields Historic Gown
By Avice Meehan It was a hot August day, nearly six years ago, when Barry Webber found himself inside a dumpster in Litchfield looking for something unexpected: An evening gown commissioned in the 1870s by a young Alice Eldridge from the House of Worth in Paris while she and her sister, Isabella, were on a […]
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Norfolk but Didn’t Know Where to Ask
By Colleen Gundlach There really is no longer any reason for Norfolk residents to not know how the town operates, who is on any given board or committee in town, or what was discussed and decided at such board and committee meetings. If you have a computer and internet access, the whole town is an […]
Choral Singing Meets Bluegrass
LCCU welcomes all ages to sing new styles By Andra Moss The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) is entering its 127th concert year with decidedly youthful energy. Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Gabriel Löfvall, the LCCU will convene a youth choral festival in Norfolk in late spring; offer a series of choral seminars […]
The Celestial Sphere
March Skies and the Vernal Equinox By Matthew Johnson It has been an unusually cold winter, even by Norfolk standards. The constellations of Orion, and Canis Major, the great hunter and his dog, must have struggled during those frigid nights to rise in the east and traverse the southern meridian to set in the west […]
It’s Only Natural
Planting with Bare Root Stock is a Win-Win-Win By Susannah Wood While March can be cold and forbidding, the month officially kicks off spring and rouses us out of dormancy. Many of us start thinking about our yards and gardens in earnest. The Norfolk Nature Alliance is organizing a year-long effort to promote planting for […]
Norfolk Children’s Foundation is a Living Legacy of Dorothy Satherlie
Dorothy “Dottie” Jane Satherlie, a woman whose life spanned over a century of profound change and even more profound service, passed away peacefully at her home on Jan. 29, 2026. At 102 years old, Dottie leaves behind a legacy defined by her unwavering commitment to education, her deep-rooted faith, and a family that stretches across […]
