Norfolk and Colebrook Schools Explore STEAM

By Lauren Valentino On October 4, Botelle School was full of STEAM. Not the steam that rises from boiling water. This STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Botelle’s Hall of Flags was transformed into the STEAM museum, and students from Botelle and Colebrook Consolidated School explored state-of-the-art, hands-on stations. STEAM education is […]

Not Your Mother’s Exercise Class

Norfolk seniors get moving with Robyn Centrella By Joanne Hohmeister Did you know that Norfolk provides a free exercise class for any senior citizen who wants or needs some extra exercise in their lives?  At Meadowbrook Apartments, a certified Senior Fitness Specialist (ACE) , Robyn Centrella, who also teaches in New Hartford, Torrington, Harwinton and […]

Some Trick-or-Treaters Get an Early Start

They tumbled out of the van and drifted across the parking lot of the Meadowbrook Apartments—a shark, a skeleton, several butterflies, a ghost, a dinosaur, a clown, a princess. Leading them in Wonder Woman costume was Kailyn Nadeau, co-director of the Norfolk Early Learning Center. This was the daycare’s annual trick-or-treat outing for three- and […]

At Northwestern Regional High School, the Band’s All Here

  By Ruth Melville In music education circles, the music program at Northwestern Regional High School has long been acknowledged to be one of the finest in the state, if not the region. Three times, in 2000, 2006 and 2015, the Northwestern high school band has been chosen the top ensemble at the Connecticut Music […]

Natural Supplements Company Helps to Grow the Local Economy

    By Colleen Gundlach What started as a small company with just five employees across the street from Lime Rock Park has grown to a worldwide business employing more than 50 people in the center of North Canaan. In a nondescript building on Railroad Street, the Vibrant Health company markets their food-based supplements throughout […]

A Portrait of Two Equestrians

It Takes More Than Money to Ride   by Courtney Maum There’s a saying that the way to heaven is on horseback, but even veteran riders would admit that the journey is expensive. Happily, the careers of two local trainers prove that passion and moxie can make up for what your bank account might lack. […]

It’s Only Natural—October 2016

Geography Over the Guardrail   By Hans M. Carlson I am a connoisseur of secondary roads, because they give the up-close view of the human and natural landscape that I have highlighted so often when writing about things in and around Norfolk. Interstates by contrast are not really of the places they cross, and for […]

Through The Garden Gate—October 2016

October, “Going Native”   By Leslie Watkins Partly influenced by current economics many people today are downsizing to create simple, sustainable and inexpensive lifestyles. As people and events around the world become more familiar to us we see the disparities, and our understanding grows. Studies indicate that we are not following in our parents footsteps […]

Choir Mixes Sacred and Secular at End-of-Summer Concert

The Nightingals, a summer choir for women under the direction of Elizabeth Allyn, performed two concerts on the weekend of September 17-18 at Battell Chapel. The program included both sacred and secular music embracing a broad range of styles, from Haydn and Mendelssohn to Harold Arlen and Carole King. The group, says Allyn, started as […]

Norfolk’s 4th Annual Car Show a Roaring Success

The car show was held this year on the grounds of the Battell estate, next to the Yale Music Shed, and drew a record numbers of exhibitors and visitors. Among the cars were a one-cylinder Duryea horseless carriage, built in 1894, right; a baby blue 1956 Thunderbird, which was voted the crowd favorite, top; and, […]