• 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 […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

SHELTER Art Show

By Bina Thomson Shelter is a concept on which Jennifer Almquist meditates often. She asks questions like “What does true shelter look like?” and “What is it like to not have it?” Her attempts to answer these questions have led her to curate an art show in the Royal Arcanum Building in Norfolk, titled SHELTER.  […]

city meadow progress

Invasives removed as town considers a new planting plan By Avice Meehan Sometimes a “closed” sign can be good news. That is certainly the case for City Meadow, where staff from Native Habitat Restoration are now treating invasive plants like phragmites and non-native cattails with a selective herbicide. Their broad-brimmed hats are barely visible above […]

Wangum on the Market

Norfolk’s Water Supply to Get New Owner By Joe Kelly Wangum Lake, the pristine, 177-acre reservoir that sits atop Canaan Mountain and supplies Norfolk with thousands of gallons of water every day, will come under new ownership thanks to the pending sale of Aquarion Water Company. Eversource Energy, better known to most people in Norfolk […]

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Selectmen Seek Conversation About Collaboration By Avice Meehan Nearly a decade after Norfolk and Colebrook failed to reach agreement on creating a new regional school district that would combine their elementary schools, the issue is back on the front burner thanks to a column from Matt Riiska, Norfolk’s first selectman. Riiska, a veteran of a […]

Haystack is Back

sixth annual festival convenes in October By Patricia Platt The chance to see and experience the world around us more deeply—whether that means understanding the stories of the trees, how the horse shaped empires or insights from wartime poets—will all been on offer during this year’s Haystack Book Festival. “We bring together in unmoderated conversation […]

Exploring natural History

C.H. Pease Museum Shines a light on Canaan’s past By Colleen Gundlach Where in North Canaan can one find a moose, a fox, an eagle, a turtle and various types of winged creatures in one place? If you know, you know. It’s the C.H. Pease Museum of Natural History right in the center of Canaan […]

Better Early Than never

Norfolk preps for early voting for general election By Andra Moss Early voting will be an option for Norfolk residents for the first time in this year’s general election. Living up to its nickname as the “Land of Steady Habits,” Connecticut had been one of only four states that did not allow early voting until […]

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 […]

Prospect of Proposed Tower Alarms South Norfolk

Residents search for answers and alternatives By Avice Meehan The letters arrived in March and residents of Old Goshen Road, Smith Road and the surrounding area thought nothing would happen. A representative of Smartlink, a company working on behalf of Verizon, was looking for a location for a new cell tower. Surely, they thought, no […]

The Body Scientific

Beech Leaf Disease and Nematodes By Richard Kessin I am used to studying diseases of animals. Like humans, vertebrates have immune systems and cells like macrophages that roam through the body to eat invaders. Trees are a whole other category: They do not make antibodies to protect themselves and they certainly cannot run away from a […]

Personal Products Program to Launch at Norfolk Food Pantry

Initiative fills a gap for women and girls By Andra Moss An increasing number of families in the Northwest Corner are turning to local food pantries to help fill the gap for basic necessities as rising prices stretch many budgets to the breaking point. The variety of offerings can be limited, though. Clients visiting the […]

A Summer Outdoors Begins with Tick Prevention

By Kelly Kandra Hughes The Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) wants everyone to be extra aware of ticks this summer. “It’s already a heavy tick season,” says NLT board member Bill Couch. “Everyone needs to take extra precautions this year.”  One of the primary concerns with tick bites is Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia bacteria spread […]