• 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

A New Ecosystem of Conservation Organizations for Norfolk

By Cheryl Heller People tend to conform to the boundaries that surround them, whether they are state lines or the social norms that shape behavior. But as Peter Senge, a systems scientist and author noted, “All boundaries, national boundaries included, are fundamentally arbitrary. We invent them and then, ironically, we find ourselves trapped within them.” […]

Radio Norfolk?

 Resident Hopes to Develop a Community Station By Colleen Gundlach With internet radio and streaming services available, do people turn the dial to listen to old-fashioned radio these days? Norfolk musician, writer and content producer Michael Cobb answers that question with a resounding “yes.”   Cobb, who was a disc jockey at the Berkshire School’s radio […]

Maple Syrup Season Faced Weather Challenges 

By Jude Mead Boiling sap for maple syrup, a beloved natural sweetener produced in Norfolk, is a seasonal ritual this time of year and has a longstanding cultural tradition throughout New England. This year, the treasured tradition was under threat because unfavorable weather conditions posed significant challenges to maple syrup producers.  Russell Russ, property manager […]

Proposed Cell Tower Generates Many Questions

Residents of Estey Road worry about impact By Avice Meehan More than 30 people, including concerned residents of Estey Road, turned out for a March 26 informational meeting about a proposal to build a 186-foot cell tower on property located off the isolated, rural road in South Norfolk. The meeting, held at the Botelle School […]

Eversource to Sell Aquarion, Alter Ownership Structure

Will ending PURA oversight mean higher water rates? By Joe Kelly Aquarion Water Company—and by extension Norfolk’s public water system—may be about to undergo a massive shift in ownership. Eversource Energy, which purchased Aquarion in 2017 but put it up for sale a year ago amid regulatory tensions and reversals in its wind energy investments, […]

Draft School Budget Shows Modest Increase

Annual cost for Botelle School is $2.7 million By Avice Meehan The Board of Education (BOE) is considering a budget of $2,762,690 for the upcoming fiscal year, which represents an increase of 4.29 percent over this year’s adopted budget of $2,649,086. The draft budget was presented at the Feb. 11 board meeting and will be […]

Norfolk’s Superintendent to Retire

Colebrook principal also stepping down By Avice Meehan Changes in school leadership are afoot in both Norfolk and Colebrook with the nearly simultaneous but unrelated retirement announcements by the school superintendent in Norfolk and the principal of the Colebrook Consolidated School. Mary Beth Iacobelli, who became Norfolk’s superintendent in 2014, shared her decision with the […]

Future Proofing

Norfolk, Colebrook Hold Joint Meeting About Schools By Avice Meehan The Hall of Flags at Botelle Elementary School has been the scene of many important Norfolk meetings, but few have carried as much significance as the Feb. 20 joint session with Colebrook to explore how the towns might work together to address declining school enrollments. […]

Managing Tranquility: Noise Regulations 101

By Andra Moss The silent days of winter are drawing to a close, and many are anticipating the extended daylight hours and warmer temperatures that will beckon Norfolk’s denizens outdoors for a wide range of amusements. One question that came up at the Jan. 14 public hearing of the Planning and Zoning Commission on the […]

Listen Up: Libraries Reveal What’s Going On “Between the Stacks”

By Andra Moss Sometimes the most mundane exercises can lead to innovative outcomes. Take, for instance, the prosaic activity of small-town budgeting. As the board of the Falls Village David M. Hunt Library prepared to approach their town selectmen for additional funding last year, they asked residents for letters of support. The board hoped that […]

It’s Only Natural

Identifying Trees in Winter Can Be a Challenge By Jude Mead Identifying trees in winter can be a challenge, especially in places where snow covers the ground and deciduous trees stand bare. According to Dr. Mike Zarfos, the executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF), most people rely on looking at the leaves during the […]

Measles Kills

By Richard Kessin Editor’s Note: Richard Kessin is Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Cell Biology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. This column is adapted from one that appeared in The Lakeville Journal.  In 1962, about 500,000 American kids got measles, with fever and spots made by the immune system reacting with the virus. […]