• Proposed Manor House Expansion Draws Large Crowd

    Many differing views on effect of change in town center By Susan MacEachron Norfolk residents filled the Botelle School Hall of Flags on a very cold evening on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to attend the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) public hearing regarding a modification to the special permit granted in 1996 to the property known as […]

  • From All Angels

    Throughout the month of February, Garet&Co will be returning to Norfolk to present their third annual performance in the Battell Chapel, where each piece will be set in the round.  In this presentation, titled “From All Angles”, the audience will witness the translation of three of the works presented at their fall show.   “Can’t Keep […]

  • Norfolk Then

    Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, Librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an electrical engineer, who would be hired in 1902 to manage London’s underground railway system, converting it from steam to electricity. The Spoffords engaged the architect […]

  • Sweets on the Green

    A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7.     Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]

  • Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End

    Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]

  • New Meanings for a Monument

    Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]

  • Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day

    plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]

  • NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners

    More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]

  • Can you spot the Real Curler?

    There was movie magic ice to be made, and the pros of the Norfolk Curling Club were the first to get the call. In October, NCC’s Jon Barbagallo, Lou Barbagallo, Rachel Barbagallo, Mark Walsh, Harvey Chalmers and Phill West were hired by a production company to make curling ice at a Rhode Island hockey rink […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1917 photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties, including the right to own property, hold public office, sit on juries, participate in public assemblies and vote. The group of 25 suffragists—20 women and five men—gathered on the porch following their meeting with Congressman […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

Campaign to Slow Speed of Traffic Through Town is Long and Frustrating

Keeping the Roads Safe By Colleen Gundlach The first letter to the editor about slowing down traffic traveling through Norfolk was published in Norfolk Now back in 2017. The writer, Barry Webber, encouraged townspeople to make a concerted effort to travel the speed limit when driving around town. He wrote, “If each of us pledges […]

Local Conservation Groups Work to Protect Connecticut’s Bat Population

Friends Not Foes Text By Avice MeehanPhoto By Pamela Velez Don’t be surprised if you see a strange-looking vehicle with an antenna on its roof crawling along Goshen East Street late at night. It’s a scientific bat mobile, deployed by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to assess Connecticut’s bat population. Moving […]

The Connecticut-Asian Cultural Center Opens on Westside Road

Celebrating Art and Culture Text by Patricia PlattPhoto Courtesy of The CT-Asian Cultural Center Celebrating its motto “Love, Mutual Support and Peace,” the Connecticut-Asia Cultural Center held its grand opening on Aug. 6 at 207A Westside Road, the large stone estate built by Dr. Michael Pupin in 1907. For many years, the site was occupied […]

Norfolk NET Program Encourages Acts of Kindness in the Community

Paying It Forward Text By Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Henry Perrault Norfolk has a new Little Free Library! Located on Winchester Road, the wooden box filled with books sits on a pole with a sign that encourages passersby to “Take a Book, Leave a Book.” Under this directive is one more sentence: “Made possible by […]

A Bounty of Cultivated and Wild Mushrooms Can Be Found at Husky Meadows Farm

Mushrooms on the Menu By David Beers The old Curtiss dairy farm was quiet for many years. Then in 2015 an organic vegetable farm took root, called Husky Meadows Farm. Over the past seven years, the farm has diversified more each year. It is remarkable to see all that is going on. The farm now […]

Station Place Café to Close After 12 Years in Business

Station Place Café, based in the historic former Norfolk station of the Central New England Railway,will close its doors at the end of September, says owner Stefanie Gouey. She cites Covid-19, rising food costs and decreasing walk-in business as factors in her decision to close the well-reviewed eatery. Gouey first started serving fresh breakfast and […]

Revamped Town Website Launched

By Susan MacEachron As of July 1, the town website has been redesigned and is under town management for the first time. Before now, the website had been managed by various members of the community for the benefit of the town. Now the Website Committee is a town committee, and notices of monthly meetings will […]

Keeping Vital Supplies Flowing to Ukraine’s Front Lines

Two men with local ties send equipment where it’s needed most Text By Andra MossPhoto Courtesy of Evan Platt On May 1, barely two months after the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine, Evan Platt boarded a plane in Salt Lake City, Utah, bound for Warsaw. His friend and former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) […]

Babs Perkins Uses Intentional Movement to Produce Ethereal Photograpys

Text by Jude MeadPhoto Courtesy of Babs Perkins Photography has the power to inspire and the ability to invoke an emotional response in people. It is a visual tool that allows photographers to show how they see the world. For professional photographer and writer Barbara “Babs” Perkins, photography is a passion. She uses it to […]

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to Take Place During WIN Weekend

by Jeremy Withnell The long-awaited end to the second phase of the City Meadow project is nearly at hand.  According to Molly Ackerly, chair of the City Meadow committee, the finishing touches are being put in place and a ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled to coincide with Weekend in Norfolk on August 7 at 1 […]

Norfolk Church Sends Work Camp Group To Upgrade Homes and Uplift Hearts

Photo by Sarah Foster After a two-year break, Church of Christ Congregational resumed its tradition of Work Camp trips. This year, 16 volunteers loaded into cars and headed back to Camden, N.Y. to resume their partnership with Cluster 13 Ministries.   Under the leadership of Pastor Erick Olsen and his wife Tina, seven adults and nine […]

Former Norfolk Resident Publishes Her First Children’s Book

Finding Inspiration in the Words of a Child Text By Colleen GundlachPhoto by Laura Roehl A few years ago, there was a grandmother whose little grandson ran to her and said, “Grammy, Grammy, there’s a fish in the tree,” to which she replied, “A fish in a tree? How could that be?” That simple, spontaneous […]