• 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

Off the beaten path

Ashley Falls Offers A Lot to Explore By David Beers The beaten path is Route 7. If you are heading north on Route 7 from North Canaan, just past the Connecticut police barracks, there is a road that veers left at a slight angle. This is Ashley Falls Road (Route 7A), and if you take […]

Know Your Neighbor

Christopher Keyes With this piece, Norfolk Now is launching a new series to get to know our neighbors better and to find common ground by talking about our relationship to our exceptional town. How did you come to Norfolk? I came to know Norfolk through friends in the late ’90s. I recall a walk up Dennis […]

Norfolk Remembers: Elizabeth Ann (Poll) Leifert

Elizabeth A Leifert, 80, passed away March 28, 2024. She was the wife of 60 years of Lawrence A. Leifert. Born in Torrington on Feb. 3, 1944, she was the daughter of Armand and Katherine Killiany Poll and a graduate of the Hart School of Music. She worked for the State of Connecticut Department of […]

Norfolk Remembers: Eleanor Curtiss Ellert

Eleanor Curtiss Ellert passed away on February 23, 2024, at the young age of 96. She was born in Norfolk, in 1927 to Albert H. and Elizabeth (Manville) Curtiss. Although she moved away from Norfolk during her marriage to her first husband of 14 years, she returned with her son, Clifford Bell, after her divorce. […]

Local Farmers Navigate Shift in Weather Patterns, Hardiness Zones

Norfolk reclassified as zone 6 By Jude Mead Gardening and farming have always been important in the Northwest Corner, and those involveddepend on the Plant Hardiness Zone Map released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to helpthem determine the best practices in these activities. Growing zones help identify the types of plantsand crops that […]

New Choral Union Director Plans Multigenerational Rebuild

Singers of all ages invited to join LCCU By Patricia Platt“When the Litchfield County Choral Union sings, our love of music and Mozart fills the air,” announcedGabriel Lofvall, the LCCU’s new musical director. Rehearsals will start in late May for an August concertwhich will include Mozart’s “Mass of the Sparrows (Spatzenmesse),” a selection of pieces […]

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 […]

A Norfolk Library Card Unlocks a World of Digital Collections

Apps offer readers free access to e-content By Andra MossThe Norfolk Library may be filled with history (and books), but it is also an outstanding resource fordigital media. Thanks to several easy-to-use apps, the library provides 24/7 access to a universe of freedigital collections via the power of a library card. Tired of watching that […]

Focus on New Firehouse shifts to funding

Costs likely to rise beyond initial $5 million estimate By Joe Kelly After months of sometimes contentious public hearings, plans for a new Norfolk firehouse are nearing the end of the wetlands/zoning part of the approval process and heading into a decisive new phase: finding the money to pay for it all. The Planning & […]

Pig Iron Films

East Canaan Landmark Was Inspiration for Filmmaking Business By Michael Cobb Perotti is a name well known throughout the northwest corner of Connecticut. Though he has worked as a plumbing apprentice for the family business, Perotti & Sons, Inc., Ted Perotti’s vocation has led him in a different direction –  filmmaking. A native of East […]

New Beginnings

Jennifer Almquist Works to Document the Faces of Homelessness and Poverty By Bina Thomson When Jennifer Almquist first heard an offhand comment about “the people living in the woods,” she had to find out more. Almquist, a lifelong resident of Northwestern Connecticut, knew that the woods between Norfolk and Winsted were not a good place […]