Norfolk Summer Style
Action-Packed Relaxation with Kids in Mind By Holly Leibrock Summer is finally here and no one understands a “Norfolk Summer” better than the town’s children. Tobey Pond is the town’s centerpiece throughout the dog days of summer. Officially opened on June 6, Tobey Pond provides a great place to swim, fish or picnic. […]
Land Trust Opens New Trail
Pine Mountain Hike Is Accessible for All Ages By David Beers In 2013, the Norfolk Land Trust purchased 311 acres of forestland north of the Mad River from the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. Over the past three years, Land Trust volunteers have been developing an extensive trail system on the property that connects with […]
Norfolk Celebrates Norfolk
Weekend in Norfolk will highlight the town’s best By Colleen Gundlach When everyone involved reaches his or her goal and everyone profits in some way, it is colloquially called a win-win situation. Win is just what Norfolk is poised to do in a few weeks when residents and visitors alike benefit as Weekend in […]
It’s Only Natural—July 2016
Old Field Pines on the Norfolk Downs By Hans M. Carlson Many people have a perception of the precolonial New England forest as dominated by white pine. This is in part due to many early chroniclers using the name “pine” as a catchall for conifers—hemlock, fir, spruce. It also has to do with the […]
Through the Garden Gate
July, Berry Season By Leslie Watkins July is the beginning of the great berry harvest, keeping both people and birds busy as can be. Blueberries, red raspberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries all begin to ripen now, providing us with delectable and nutritious berries for pies, tarts, sauces and pancakes—if the berries make it back to […]
Scandal and Bribery Tainted State Senate Election of 1856
A Look into Norfolk’s Past By Ryan Bachman With 2016 an election year, news stories alleging shady political deals and corruption abound, but stories such as these are nothing new. In 1856, Norfolk was the scene of a political scandal that shocked citizens all over Litchfield County. That spring, tensions over social issues like […]
Thoughts Along the Chattleton Road at Great Mountain Forest
By Hans M. Carlson The road at Great Mountain Forest’s (GMF) west gate is a new spur off an older thoroughfare. Jean’s Trail is the intersection, and from there the old Chattleton Road once ran down behind where Rustling Winds Stables is now. It still goes south to Meekertown in the other direction, but […]
The Challenges and Joys of Owning a Small Farm
Not for the Faint of Heart By Ruth Melville People like the idea of local farms. They enjoy seeing cows grazing in a field or the piles of fresh vegetables on the table at the farmers market. But they are less likely to appreciate the amount of work that goes into starting a […]
Vint Lawrence Dies at 76
Vint Lawrence, an artist, gardener and activist in town affairs, whose connection to Norfolk began in childhood as the son of weekenders and developed in his last two decades when he took up full-time residence, died on April 9 at Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven at the age of 76. The cause was […]
Melville, the Mountain and Moby Dick
By Michael Kelly Only a writer with Herman Melville’s phantasmagorical imagination could look out his window in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts at Mount Greylock, 16 miles due north, and envision a great white whale surfacing for air in the remote seas of the South Pacific. Yet this is precisely what Melville did […]
