• Early Morning Fire Guts Norfolk Barn

    Forty firefighters respond from five towns By Avice Meehan Adair Mali often sleeps with earplugs but dispensed with them on the night of Aug. 18, tired after a night at Tanglewood with her husband, Antonio Guindon, and another couple. Thank goodness she did. At about 4:20 a.m. Mali awoke to a “loud crackling noise” and […]

  • Litchfield County Choral Union Closes 2026 Season

    Celebrating America’s 250th birthday By Jude Mead The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) brought its 2026 summer season to a stirring close on Sunday, Aug. 2, with “From Roots to Promise: Singing America at 250,” an ambitious program that celebrated the country’s musical traditions while looking toward its future. The concert featured the LCCU anthem […]

  • Haystack Book Festival Returns to Norfolk

    Nationally recognized authors offer conversation and insights By Ann DeCerbo Book lovers, curious minds and anyone who enjoys a lively conversation about ideas have plenty to look forward to next month when the Haystack Book Festival returns to Norfolk Oct. 2–4 with events at Infinity Hall, the Norfolk Library and Great Mountain Forest. A program […]

  • Fire and Circus Arts on the Green

    By Jude Mead Matica Circus, a professional performing group based in Harwinton, Conn., brought an unforgettable combination of fire, acrobatics and circus arts to the Norfolk Village Green for the grand finale of the season of the Friday Nights on the Green summer concert series. The high-energy performance captivated the crowd with dramatic fire spinning, […]

  • Botelle Ushers in a New Year

    The first day of school dawned cool and cloudy, but no one seemed to notice. Students arrived at Botelle Elementary School on Aug. 26 via bus, car and firetruck (complete with siren). Some students, like Daphne Rutolo who walked her older sister to the bus, will have to wait for the start of the pre-Kindergarten […]

  • A New Year, New Pathways

    Northwestern Regional 7 expands opportunities for students By Virginia Coleman-Prisco As students and staff return to Northwestern Regional School District No. 7 (NWR7) middle and high schools for the 2026-27 school year, district leaders say the focus will be on strengthening student opportunities, preparing young people for an evolving workforce and building an even stronger […]

  • When Is a Check Really in the Mail?

    By Joseph Kelly The United States Postal Service (USPS), longtime target of many complaints and butt of numerous jokes, may seem an unlikely source of metaphysical speculation. But this year the USPS added a new wrinkle to an age-old question: When can it truly and truthfully be said that “a check is in the mail?” […]

  • Steady as She Goes

    Crews working on Norfolk’s new firehouse hoisted the “final” truss in place on Saturday, Aug. 29, as members of the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, town officials and representatives of Newfield Construction watched from the sidelines. The truss, signed by key players in the major project, marks a symbolic milestone toward completion of the building. NVFD […]

  • Caring for Forests: Ethan Tapper’s Message of Stewardship

    By Jude Mead Ethan Tapper recently spoke at the Church of Christ Congregational on the green about his work as a forester, author and advocate for the natural world. The evening centered on his 2024 book, “How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World,” which explores how forests function and […]

  • IT’ S ONLY NATURAL: Putting the Brakes on Bittersweet: a September Strategy

    by Susannah Wood Over the last couple of years, Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) has increasingly taken hold on Norfolk’s roadsides. Anyone who has driven back and forth to New York City over the years has seen how, unchecked, the vines can envelope trees, girdle and kill them, and leave behind a wrecked woodland. A member […]

  • Woodman Spare that Tree—Or Don’t

    The somewhat lopsided Japanese Zelkova tree that once stood near the entrance to Nor-folk’s Post Office on Station Place is no more. Likely planted some 30 years ago during Ar-thur Rosenblatt’s tenure as first selectman, the hardy tree fell victim to progress and the need to replace the adjacent sidewalk. The planned removal of the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the early 20th century, the Mountain Road bridge over Norfolk Brook had a rustic-style guard rail bordering the road and sidewalk. Characterized by the use of twigs, branches, and bark, the rustic style had been used in formal English gardens in the 1700’s and in this country was very popular in the second half […]

Articles

Conservation Commission and Public Works Team Up Against Invasives

Knotweed, mugwort are priorities By Avice Meehan As a member of Norfolk’s Conservation Commission, Becky Eaton finds herself thinking a great deal about 21st-century road and property maintenance and building relationships with folks like Troy LaMere, the town’s public works supervisor. The motivation is clear: invasive plants like bittersweet kill trees and create roadside hazards […]

Community in Action

Scoville Piece to Join Norfolk Sculpture Trail By Andra Moss Norfolk’s public art collection—made possible through donations from local art supporters to the Norfolk Community Association—is growing. According to Doreen Kelly and Barry Webber, co-presidents of the Norfolk Community Association (NCA), the latest addition to the town’s outdoor sculpture trail, planned to connect Norfolk’s monuments […]

High or Low Tech?

New Strategies Considered for Speed Control in Norfolk By Avice Meehan First Selectman Matt Riiska often ends his monthly Norfolk Now column by asking people to slow down and observe the speed limit. But what exactly is the speed limit on town roads?“It is 25 miles an hour all through the town, on all town […]

Ten Years of Weekend in Norfolk

This year is the 10th annual Weekend in Norfolk (WIN) and it’s bigger and better than ever. From Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3, Norfolk opens its doors all over town to host a great variety of activities such as live music, art shows, open houses, hiking trails, bocce, fly-fishing lessons and the best […]

Norfolk in the Civil War

As part of researching the current exhibition at the Norfolk Historical Society, “A New Birth of Freedom: Norfolk in the Civil War,” Norfolk town historians have discovered many additional graves of Civil War soldiers who were part of the Connecticut 29th and 54th regiments. According to Barry Webber, executive director of the historical society, “One […]

Keeping Watch

Lifeguards Train for Tobey Pond By Jude Mead Lifeguarding Tobey Pond requires a sense of responsibility, safety and leadership—along with, quick thinking. Josh DeCerbo, Tobey Pond supervisor for the past several years, said the role teaches important life skills and makes a difference in the community because the job of a lifeguard at a beach […]

Botelle Sixth Graders Have Big Plans for the Future

By Avice Meehan More than a few already had middle school homework on their minds, but the nine students who completed sixth grade at Botelle Elementary School on June 11 are looking to make a major mark on the world. Their goals range from working for NASA to playing major league sports, becoming a chef, […]

Historical Society Explores Norfolk’s Civil War Past

By Andra Moss Norfolk had already been a thriving town for over a century when President Abraham Lincoln issued the call on April 15, 1861, for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to defend the Union after the fall of Fort Sumter at the entrance of Charleston Harbor. The men of Norfolk responded—some immediately, others throughout the four […]

A Different Kind of Beaver Dam

By Colleen Gundlach Beavers, the semiaquatic rodents that often change the structure of waterways with their dams, are seldom known to dam up a roadway. In Norfolk, though, one of these little animals was enough to block traffic in both directions at the Route 44 retaining wall project when it took a stand at about […]

Norfolk Land Trust Earns National Accreditation Renewal

The Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) has achieved accreditation for a third 5-year period from the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). “The Norfolk Land Trust has always striven for excellence,” said Libby Borden, the organization’s co-president. “With the LTA ‘Seal of Approval,’ our members, donors, and everyone […]

Norfolk Palooza

Mark Your Calendars to WIN! Throughout the winter and spring, the elves of Norfolk have been hard at work thinking about ways to showcase Norfolk at its summer best and draw visitors to its manifold attractions. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for the first weekend in August as “Weekend in Norfolk” gets underway […]

Litchfield County Choral Union to Perform July 27

Members of the Litchfield County Choral Union will gather for its 126th anniversary concert in the Music Shed at the Battell-Stoeckel Estate on July 27. This summer’s concert will be a particularly stimulating one with music chosen by music director, Gabriel Löfvall, to bring sunshine into dark times. The concert, entitled “And Still We Sing! […]