• Norfolk Crowds Return to New Farmers Market

    By Andra Moss The crowd was large, loud and loving it at July’s Northwest Farm to Fork farmers market, held under the pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. “We were very pleased with the turnout, with approximately 230 customers coming through and 16 food and farm vendors,” says Lisa Auclair, a co-founder, with Devin Grosso and […]

  • Friday Night on the Green Celebrates America’s 250th

    July 3 was a picture-perfect night for the community-wide event cel-ebrating America’s Independence. Following a quick parade, picnickers enjoyed burgers and ice cream while judges dug into the entries in the pie baking contest. First Selectman Hen-ry Tirrell moved seamlessly from his welcome speech to the dunk tank, and a few folks, like Pete Sanders […]

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS Laurene Mary Wallace

    Laurene Mary Wallace, 77, of Colebrook passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Friday, July 10, 2026. Laurene was born on April 28, 1949, in Bridgeport, the last of four children born to the late Lawrence and Irene (Misencik) Firmender of Stratford. A retired registered nurse, Laurene’s career in nursing and cardiac rehabilitation […]

  • Norfolk Remembers Sally Sterling Ellis Quale

    Sally Sterling Ellis Quale, of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Bronxville, N.Y., died unexpectedly of heart failure on July 7 at the age of 87. Sally will be remembered for her deep commitment to her family and communities and for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, creativity … and, of course, for her beautiful smile […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This charming house, still standing on the west side of Litchfield Rd., was built in 1905 for Richmond Paine, the newly appointed conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU). Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel engaged the architect Ehrick Rossiter to design the house for Paine as well as the Music Shed for performances by […]

  • Norfolk’s Newest Neighborhood Puts Down Roots

    Haystack Woods lauded as a “model for the state” By Joe Kelly Norfolk’s newest neighborhood, the Haystack Woods affordable housing development, has officially come to life. A year ago, the 39-acre location—a former gravel pit off Old Colony Road—was little more than a muddy building site. Now construction of the 10, two- and three-bedroom homes […]

  • Winsted Church Auctions Tiffany Window for $1.25 Million

    Sale highlights women’s role in Tiffany designs By Joe Kelly When medieval architects found ways to build taller cathedrals, the techniques they developed also made possible the enormous stained-glass windows that we so enjoy today, such as at Chartres and Sainte-Chapelle in France and Canterbury Cathedral in England. American-made stained glass is more recent, dating […]

  • A Revolutionary Year

    1776 Norfolk explored in summer exhibition By Andra Moss Communities across the country are looking back with wonder at 1776, the year that 13 British colonies initiated a revolution that, against astonishing odds, led to the birth of an independent republic. In Norfolk, two curators have combed the Norfolk Historical Society’s (NHS) collection for colonial-era […]

  • SUMMER MUSIC: Familiar Quartets, New Composers at Yale Chamber Festival

    By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, running from July 3 until Aug. 22, will present an exciting season of classical, innovative and international music. This summer, the Brentano Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Ying Quartet and the Horszowski Trio are among those who will perform during weekend concerts and serve as artist-in-residence mentors to the […]

  • Botelle Students Move Up

    By Avice Meehan Four sixth graders bid farewell to Botelle Elementary School at a laughter-filled, but occasionally serious, ceremony on June 16 that was attended by family, friends and town officials. First Selectmen Henry Tirrell, a Botelle graduate whose mother and aunt taught at the school for many years, reminded the students that they would […]

  • Norfolk Rail-Trail Project Pedals Forward

    By Jude Mead After more than a decade of planning, permiting and redesign work, Norfolk’s long-await-ed Rails-to-Trails initiative has reached a major milestone, bringing the community closer to the creation of a new multi-use recreational trail along a historic railroad corridor. The project is the North Brook Trail, a planned three-quarter-mile ADA-accessi-ble pathway that will […]

  • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Budgets, Beetles, Nips and More

    By Avice Meehan State Rep. Maria Horn came prepared to share details about the Connecticut budget (she is co-chair of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee) and the progress that has been made toward paying down the state’s unfunded pension liability, increasing the rainy day fund (now up to $18 billion) and allocating more state funds […]

Articles

Meadowbrook Receives Grant

The Norfolk Senior Housing Corporation (aka Meadowbrook) is very pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut. The amount of $500.00 has been received from the Local Area Fund and will be used in support of general operations. On behalf of all the residents and directors at Meadowbrook, […]

A Concerted Effort of Giving

By Joel Howard In a generous act befitting the season, Infinity Hall and Yale Summer School of Music are joining forces to stage a December 9 holiday matinee concert to benefit The Norfolk Library. Headlining the event will be The Whiffenpoofs, the storied male a cappella group from Yale University, who will be joined on […]

Tokyo String Quartet members (clockwise from left) include Clive Greensmith, Kazuhide Isomura, Martin Beaver, and Kikuei Ikeda.

Popular Musical Group to Retire

String Quartet heads into final year By: John G. Funchion             The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival plays host to the venerable Tokyo String Quartet’s final full season here in Norfolk following thirty five years as its in-residence, distinguished chamber music ensemble.             Consisting of Martin Beaver, first violin; Kikuei Ikedi, second violin; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; […]

Bringing the World to Norfolk

Large attendance expected at Family Festival By Colleen Gundlach The Economic Development Commission’s (EDC) charge is, according to the town’s Web site, to “conduct research into economic trends of the town and make recommendations to improve the (economic) conditions.”  One of the conditions that needs improvement, according to commission member Bella Erder, is the knowledge […]

Super Hikers and Liaison Readjust to Norfolk Life

By Bob Bumcrot Filled with a variety of experiences, some harrowing but many uplifting, Cindy and Kirk Sinclair returned to Norfolk on May 24 from their year-long hike across America.  “It started out as a mission,” said Kirk, who calls himself The Hiking Humanitarian, “but it ended as a pilgrimage. We learned a lot about […]

Norfolk’s Own Amazing Race

By Joel Howard “Family fun day” is how veterans of Norfolk’s Annual Amazing Race describe the event. Known as AARK, the first race was held in 2007 and has since grown to a size that involves many volunteers and concentrated planning.  This year’s race is scheduled for Saturday, July 14, and will benefit the Norfolk […]

Engineering With a Social Conscience

Lior Trestman Wins UConn Research Grant at End of Freshman Year By Wiley Wood In certain regions of the world, women spend a large part of the day fetching water. Worldwide, water-borne pathogens are the leading cause of infant death. So why not create an efficient means of transporting water that would at the same […]

Ian Robinson: An Educational Safari

By Joel Howard Maru-a-Pula, a name which translates to “promise of blessings”, is an apt name for the innovative African school where Norfolk resident and recent high school graduate Ian Robinson is spending time as a volunteer teaching assistant. The educational facility, established in 1972, has grown from a student enrollment of 25 to 660, […]

Local Scholarships Await Graduates

By Joel Howard Litchfield County University Club (LCUC) awarded its first scholarship over 100 years ago, soon after a handful of philanthropic locals banded together to achieve a goal of aiding deserving students in furthering their education. Having been the idea of Norfolk patrons Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel, the group held its first meeting […]

Time is Running Out For Norfolk’s Aging Sewer System

Residents could see a big hike in user fees By Kurt Steele Norfolk faces a major challenge in planning a complex project to rehabilitate its 100-plus-year-old sewer system that could cost $3 million according to a preliminary estimate. While the sewer system has certainly stood the test of time, time is running out. Built in […]

Mystery Woman is Finally Revealed

Genevieve Cook’s journal details an affair with Obama, then 22.  By Lloyd Garrison In his 1995 memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” Barack Obama wrote discreetly of his romance in New York with a young woman who took him one fall weekend to Norfolk. Obama, who withheld the woman’s name, wrote that he was struck by […]

Gridleys in Norfolk 50 Years Later

In Pursuit of Clean Air Rosanna Trestman In the tradition of city dwellers of the early 20th century who flocked to the country for the restorative value of its clean, cool air, in 1962, New Yorkers Bill and Barbara Gridley whisked their four-year-old son, who suffered from asthma, and his older sister, to Norfolk, CT. […]