• The chicken who wanted to be a star and other tales from a norfolk movie set

    By Andra Moss Secrets and small towns don’t often pair well, and Norfolk is a small town. Yet, for eight weeks this summer, a crew of nearly 100 people quietly transformed Tim and Paula Webster’s 1908 Norfolk farmhouse into a film set for a feature-length production, all the while staying under the local radar.  It […]

  • great blue heron rookeries

    working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn […]

  • Looking Back Over the Years

    The End of an Era for Norfolk Now By Colleen Gundlach After 10 years and over 30 issues, Ruth Melville has put on her Norfolk Now editor’s hat for the last time. In June, the paper marked the end of an era with the publication of Ruth’s final issue as one of the executive editors […]

  • A Look Into Norfolk’s Past

    Exhibit Explores Pupin’s Haven of Happiness on Westside Road By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Historical Museum graces Norfolk’s village green with the reserve and understated elegance of a New Englander well worth getting to know. Visitors who step inside will find exhibits that tell the stories of the town’s past, often with intriguing ties to […]

  • Norfolk Past and Present

    The Summer Chapel Eases Gracefully Into Its 130 Years By Elizabeth Bailey Ayreslea Rowland Denny began attending services at The Church of the Transfiguration in Norfolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. A New Yorker, she was a student at the Chapin School in New York City, but her family had been […]

  • Church Steeple Shines Once Again

    Local dignitaries and friends of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational gathered on Saturday, May 25, to formally celebrate the completion of the steeple restoration project. The Rev. Erick Olsen thanked the community for supporting the years-long effort and welcomed everyone to enjoy a splendid cake featuring an image of the steeple.

  • Making the Native… Personal

    Cheryl Heller Builds a Wild Garden in Norfolk By Joe Kelly Gardens are best when they’re personal, argued the late Fred McGourty, who remains Norfolk’s best- known plantsmen. McGourty’s 1989 book, “The Perennial Gardener,” recounts the gardens he and his wife, Mary Ann, created at Hillside, their home near Dennis Hill State Park. Were he […]

  • This Old Norfolk House

    Stevens House By Joe KellyWhen our Puritan forebears arrived on these shores in the early 1600s, they were no doubt surprised todiscover how the traditional thatched roof cottages they knew from back home were no match for thewind and cold of a typical New England winter. But it would have likely surprised them even more […]

  • Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

    By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

  • Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

    By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the late 19th century, the arrival of every train at the depot on Station Place was widely anticipated.There were freight trains, milk trains and passenger trains unloading throngs of summer visitors. Theattractive station pictured here was built in 1898, replacing an earlier modest structure. Constructed ofnative granite, it was designed by Hill & Turner, […]

Articles

Art to Assist Ukraine Exhibit Opens at the Norfolk Hub

Local artists rally to raise money to provide support By Patricia Platt A remarkable, comprehensive show of art from the northwest Connecticut area can be found this month at the Norfolk Hub. The event, Art to Assist Ukraine, is a fundraising benefit put together by community members and 35 artists to support Assist-Ukraine, a nonprofit […]

New Lamps at the Norfolk Library Illuminate a Whimsical Walk Downton

Text By Michael Cummings KellyPhoto By Doug McDevitt To the number of reasons we already have for taking a leisurely walk through Norfolk’s anomalous, historic village can now be added the crooked pathway that courses down a gentle incline on the east side of the Norfolk Library.  Where daily for 50 years a dozen New […]

Norfolk Boards Consider In-Person vs. Virtual Meetings

Are hybrid meetings the new normal? By Andra Moss Following the May 1 expiration of the pandemic-related law giving emergency permission for remote meetings, the Connecticut legislature passed House Bill 5269 giving local boards and commissions the option to continue meeting remotely. The law does not require remote access to meetings; it allows the decision […]

Music Shed Hosts Premier of Kirk Sinclair’s American Discovery Symphony

A Musical Love Story Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Heath Hughes The world premiere of the American Discovery Symphony, an orchestrated travelogue and love story, took place on May 24 at the Music Shed in Norfolk with a socially distanced crowd of about 150 people. Approximately 37 musicians took the stage under conductor Mark […]

Life in a One-Room Schoolhouse at the Historical Museum

On Sunday, June 5, at 3 p.m., Susan Webb will present “School Days with the Traveling Schoolmarm: A Chronicle of American Country School Images, Artifacts, Recitations, and Adventures” at the Norfolk Historical Museum. For the past 20 years, the Norfolk Historical Society has been hosting Webb’s presentations for children at Botelle School. She spends the […]

Norfolk Land Trust Acquires 235 Acres in South Norfolk

Strategic connector of multi-town forest expanse protected by David Beers Back in 2004, Norfolk Land Trust founder Colin Tait, had a vision to create a continuous corridor of protected forest from Route 8 in Winsted to Route 7 in Canaan. That vision just became ever more real with the recent acquisition of the 235 acres […]

Is the Fashion Industry Committing Hydrocide?

Norfolk environmental program highlights the need for sustainable fashion by Kelly Kandra Huhges Earth Day may be celebrated every year on April 22, but every day is a great day to consider how personal choice impacts the Earth. A recent joint program of the Norfolk Church of Christ and the Norfolk Library virtually welcomed documentary […]

Norfolk Ambulance to Initiate Administrative Support Groups

Friends needed to keep friends safe By Andra Moss When emergency strikes in Norfolk, a cadre of volunteers comes running. Usually, first on the scene of a medical emergency is the Norfolk Ambulance crew, an all-volunteer corps that provides community protection 365 days a year. Ambulance volunteers have proven their dedication to the community for […]

Board of Selectman April Meeting

By Ruth Melville Because of the Covid pandemic, the Cemetery Committee, which oversees Norfolk’s three municipal cemeteries—Grantville, Pond Town and South Norfolk—hasn’t met in over two years. At their April 6 meeting, the Board of Selectmen (BoS) appointed Linda Perkins to replace on the committee Pete Mulville, who died last July. Also on the committee […]

Botelle Students Swim into “The Little Mermaid, Jr.” to Waves of Applause

By Kelly Kandra Hughes The Botelle Elementary School PTO had one goal in mind when they decided to stage a production of The Little Mermaid Jr. the first weekend in April – to provide positive experiences for the children. As an audience member opening night, I can unequivocally attest they not only met their goal, […]

Living with History at the Wilcox Tavern

This Old Norfolk House This is Part 2 of this history. Part 1 can be found here: https://nornow.org/2022/04/12/the-wilcox-tavern-house/ By Michael Selleck The era of the Wilcox Tavern had come to an end with the death of the widow Wilcox in 1815. Her children were all established in their own lives and her son was ready […]

Honoring Our Military Heroes

Two names to be added to memorial remembrances this year By Brian Hutchins Have you noticed that the plaques of the World War I monument at Memorial Green have been missing? The Norfolk Veterans Affairs Office, with help from all veterans in town, are adding a name to the memorial plaque this year, and also […]