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 […]
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 […]
View from the Green
Enduring Village Landmark in Limbo By Michael Kelly Civic enrichment in Norfolk Town is humming right along: what with the library’s compelling new terra cotta roof, the impressive restoration of Alfredo Taylor’s railroad railing and lamps, the reassuring church bells ringing again on the Village Green, the ambitious reimagining of City Meadow, the budding […]
Norfolk Represented in Women’s March on Washington
Residents travel to D.C believing nation’s moral values threatened By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo At least 20 Norfolkians travelled to Washington, D.C.—by car, bus, train and plane—on January 21 for the Women’s March. Two separate, large groups of Norfolk women were never able to meet up at the march but shared a very similar experience. The first […]
Convenience Store and Deli Opens in Downtown Norfolk
Residents Offer Strong Show of Support By Wiley Wood It’s not the Corner Store. The musty gray carpet is gone, the cave-like interior, the flat fluorescent lighting. The Berkshire Country Store—bright, cheerful and inviting—is something else. It opened without fanfare in the pre-dawn dusk of January 4. Within minutes, the grill was delivering hot […]
Dogs and Cats and Bears, Oh My!
Lauren Foley is Norfolk’s New Animal Control Officer By Colleen Gundlach When Norfolk’s longtime animal control officer, Glen Wheeler, passed away last year, his position remained unfilled until Lauren Foley stepped over the line from Canaan to lend a hand. North Canaan’s animal control officer (ACO) since 2013 and Torrington’s assistant ACO, Foley has […]
Affordable Housing Gets State Funds
Construction to start in the spring By Julie Scharnberg As reported in the March 2016 issue of Norfolk Now, the Foundation for Norfolk Living (FNL) was poised to move ahead with a formal closing in order to access the $2.99 million in state grant funds and anticipated a spring 2016 start date for construction. […]
Aton Forest Holds Annual Census of Early Winter Birds
By Wiley Wood Although she has been taking part in Christmas Bird Counts for over 50 years, when Ayreslea Denny describes her bird encounters on the morning of December 31 in Aton Forest, her voice is full of excitement. “The number of birds we got was just unbelievable,” she said. A small group, […]
