Christodora Program Brings City Youth to Study in Great Mountain Forest

Trading Cell Phones for Compasses   By Susan MacEachron Is there a correlation between the density of hay-scented fern and the tick population? How do soil conditions affect the growth of Late Low blueberries? What is the impact of environmental conditions on the red eft, which is the orange, land-dwelling, juvenile stage of the eastern […]

Multidisciplinary Retreat Brings Creative Artists to Norfolk

Courtney Maum’s The Cabins Project   By Ruth Melville Courtney Maum is a writer married to a filmmaker, so perhaps it’s natural for her to think about how artists from different fields can learn from each other. For years, she would go to writing conferences and meet other writers whose stories seemed perfect for filming. […]

Masterclasses Give Audiences a Glimpse Behind the Scenes

  By Leila Javitch One of the highlights of this year’s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival is the ongoing series of masterclasses that are free and open to the public on Wednesday evenings. These are an addition to the popular recitals by the music fellows, which take place Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. In a masterclass, […]

Historical Society Commemorates Norfolk’s Role in the Great War

Norfolk Natives “Over There”   By Michael Kelly While the war was raging for three years on the European continent, the United States was determined to stay out of a conflagration between nations nursing centuries-old antipathies and animosities. But a groundswell of nationalistic support fomented by adventurous, upper-class American scions eager to test their mettle […]

New Planters Adorn Station Place

This pole planter in front of the Arcanum Building, with its profusion of purple and lavender petunias, is one of several new planters in town, courtesy of the hard work of the members of the Norfolk Community Association. This year the association added 11 pole planters to Station Place and Route 44, in addition to […]

Consolidation of Roman Catholic Parishes Brings Hope for the Future

Immaculate Conception Church becomes St. Martin of Tours   By Colleen Gundlach On June 29, the Immaculate Conception Church in Norfolk underwent not only a change in name but a change in structure. When Catholic Archbishop Leonard P. Blair announced in May that the number of parishes in the archdiocese would be reduced, the fear […]

Where Are All These Bears Coming From?

A wildlife biologist separates fact from fiction   By Wiley Wood Black bear sightings are underreported in Norfolk. That’s what Town Clerk Linda Perkins thinks, anyway. She is on a campaign to get Norfolk residents to call the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)when they see a bear. “If you look at DEEP’s black […]

Northwest Hills Council of Governments

Collaboration as the Key to Success   By Ruth Melville In Connecticut, as opposed to most states, the primary unit of local government is not the county but the town. This structure gives more autonomy to each of the 169 towns in the state, but it also makes regional cooperation and planning more difficult. To […]

Garden Conservancy Opens Two Secluded Norfolk Gardens

Guests welcomed to visit, admire and enjoy the beauty on July 15   By Michael Kelly There is something evocative, almost romantic, about a secret garden. What resplendent botanical wonders perfume desultory breezes from behind the garden wall, or peek demurely over closed, enigmatic garden gates, or generate panoplies of burgeoning color around the back […]

Fresh Faces to Lead Norfolk Ambulance

Group selects new roster of officers   By Leila Javitch The Norfolk Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team is complex but flexible group of highly trained individuals. It is really unique in that it is only one of a half dozen ambulance crews in the state that remain completely volunteer and charge no fees for services. […]