The Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation Funds Educational and Cultural Activities
Enriching the Lives of Norfolk’s Children By Ruth Melville The Laurel School, at the corner of Route 44 and Laurel Way, was a nonprofit residential school for children with special needs, managed by Ken and Dottie Satherlie. In 1985 the school closed. The leftover funds had to either be returned to the state or […]
Husky Meadows Farm Grows a Cornucopia of Vegetables
By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo The former Curtiss Farm is once again a full working enterprise. The property, just past the three-way intersection of Ashpohtag Road, Lovers Lane and Loon Meadow Drive, is doing its heritage proud. An acre and a half of land is now dedicated to growing vegetables. The rather impressive garden sits at […]
Norfolk—A Thousand Points of Light
Improved communication channels should help town develop By Kurt Steele Noting that Norfolk has, in the words of a long-ago Presidential candidate, a thousand points of light and yet believing that these need to be coordinated, the Norfolk Economic Development Commission and the Coalition for Sound Growth are focusing on improving communications among the […]
State Board of Ed Approves Regionalization Plan
Towns to hold hearings and referendums At its regular meeting on July 1, the State Board of Education approved the Norfolk-Colebrook Study Group’s plan for consolidating the towns’ primary schools under one roof and one regional district. Official notification reached the town clerks’ offices in both Norfolk and Colebrook on July 29. In the […]
Tobey Pond—From Glacial Kettle to Local Swimming Hole
By Christopher Sinclair Several thousand years ago a glacier inched its way through the southern Berkshires, and upon its retreat left the patch of land that would later become Norfolk, Connecticut, with a parting gift. Tobey Pond, the locally famous and universally beloved swimming hole, is that gift —nearly as pristine now as it was […]
Rebuilding the American Chestnut Tree
Rescuing a Forest Icon By Ruth Melville From Connecticut to Mississippi, along the Appalachian Mountains and into the Ohio Valley, the American chestnut tree, able to grow as big as 130 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter, once dominated the forest canopy. Although American chestnuts were almost wiped out by disease by 1950, […]
Property Taxes Drop Slightly
Town budget trimmed back By Wiley Wood Norfolk will spend less in the coming year, and the tax rate will be marginally lower. The budget presented by Michael Sconyers, chairman of the Board of Finance, at a special town meeting on June 10 was almost $200,000 lower than last year’s, a drop of 3 percent. […]
Tour of the Litchfield Hills Raises Funds for Cancer Patients
Local nonprofit hopes to reach one million dollar mark this year By Suzanne Hinman Imagine being told that you have cancer and have weeks, months or even years of treatment ahead of you. Coping with the physical and emotional challenges of cancer treatment is daunting enough, but the financial burden is often the most overwhelming […]
Scott Shaw: Running like the Wind
By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Norfolkian Scott Shaw won the town’s annual Five-Mile Road Race in May with an all-time course record of 28 minutes and 23 seconds. The second place finisher, Brandon LeClair, set the course record last year with a time of 29 minutes and 59 seconds. LeClair beat that time by 44 seconds […]
The Gardener Is Moving On, But the Spirit of Her Garden Will Remain
Mary Ann McGourty Heads for Warmer Climes By Ruth Melville After almost four decades in Norfolk, Mary Ann McGourty, expert gardener and avid birder, is packing up her gardening tools and bird books and moving to Athens, Georgia. Mary Ann and her husband, Fred McGourty, were, until 2004, the proprietors of Hillside Gardens, a nationally […]
