Connecticut State Northwestern Celebrates 60 Years

Norfolk connections continue to grow By Virginia Coleman-Prisco This year, Connecticut State Community College Northwestern marks a significant milestone: 60 years of serving as the primary institution of higher education for the state’s Northwest Corner. Many know it as Northwestern Connecticut Community College (NWCC), but as of 2023 it has been the Northwestern Campus of […]

Jingle Bell Rocking

With a capacity crowd spilling out of the Great Room at the Norfolk Library and Linda Bell at the piano, Peter and Marinell Crippen led an enthusiastic carol sing on Saturday, Nov. 29, just ahead of the annual tree lighting event on the Village Green. Eager support was provided by Ann Havemeyer, the library’s executive […]

Mending Café: Repairing Clothes and Creating Community

By Bina Thomson Spools of thread and jars of buttons decorated tables at the Norfolk Hub on the first Saturday of November as community members gathered for Norfolk’s first Mending Café. It wasn’t long before someone came by with a treasured vintage coat in need of repairs and the menders got to work. The café […]

Behind the Scenes on Election Night

The Norfolk town elections lacked suspense this year—only one seat on the Board of Education was contested—but the mechanics of administering Election Day on Nov. 6 and tallying the count followed the same, precise order under the watchful eye of Moderator Charlene Jacobs of Winsted. The role of moderator can be filled by a Norfolk […]

Students Honor Those Who Served

Botelle Elementary School hosted its annual Veterans Day Sing on Nov. 11 to honor town veterans. The event, now in its second decade, included a lunch and special program.

Careful as You Go

Repairing the brick and brownstone staircase at Norfolk’s Town Hall involves a fair bit of finesse and luck. Mason Joe Marolda, who has been working through the fall, has relied on a mix of recycled and found materials to ensure that the repairs mesh with the building’s distinctive exterior. For starters, Marolda saved as much […]

Norfolk’s Early Christmas Gift

On a blustery, rain-drenched October morning, intrepid teams from Peerless and the Whalen Nursery brought something special to the Norfolk Village Green: A 25-foot, field grown Norway spruce to serve as the town’s new holiday beacon. It replaces a King Boris fir grown from seed in Great Mountain Forest, which fell prey to a fungal […]

Norfolk Fire Department Awarded FEMA Grant

Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) Chief Brian Hutchins announced last month that the department had received a grant to purchase new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), funded by the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “This equipment,” says Hutchins, “provides the most up-to-date protection available, uses the most state-of-the-art technology […]

A Bad Month for Invasives

Norfolk contractor Phillip Lovett volunteered a day of his time and equipment to clear a steep bank at Botelle Elementary School infested with a tangle of bittersweet, porcelain berry, Japanese honeysuckle and multiflora rose—among other invasive plants. It was part of the Conservation Commission’s all-out effort to tame invasives across Norfolk. A team from Native […]

King of Pastry

Flora Lazar Co-Produces Documentary Film By Andra Moss It is the Olympics of French pastry—a marathon three-day competition for the honor of being recognized as one of the finest craftspeople in la République, a Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF). Held once every four years in Lyon, the grueling pastry competition presents the ultimate challenge to 16 elite finalists. […]