• Inside the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art

    A season of student and community activity By Patricia Platt For over 80 years, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust has endowed Yale University’s summer music and art programs in Norfolk. The renowned Yale Norfolk School of Art opens the 2026 summer season on May 23, before the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival begins, and shares its […]

  • Trio Revives Local Farmers Market

    Northwest Farm to Fork launches at Norbrook By Andra Moss When Devin Grosso and her husband moved to Norfolk in 2024, she was disappointed to learn that the town’s farmers market had permanently closed just the year before. However, a chance meeting at the Botelle School garden with Lisa Auclair, who had managed the Norfolk […]

  • Tracing the Dudley Legacy

    Family history and the truth behind Dudleytown By Jude Mead The Dudley name, with roots stretching back to 14th-century England, carries with it a long and often dramatic history. For Susan Dudley of Winchester, that legacy has been a lifelong source of curiosity—particularly her family’s connection to Dudleytown, the long-abandoned settlement hidden within Cornwall’s Dark […]

  • Cultivars, Nativars and Natives: The Lowdown

    by Susannah Wood It’s May and gardening is in full swing. At nurseries and on gardening sites, beginners and enthusiasts often encounter plants labelled “cultivar” or “nativar,” as well as “native.” What is the difference between a cultivar and a nativar? If someone wants to support local ecosystems and biological diversity, are nativars a good […]

  • Noteworthy Natives: Arrowwood Viburnum

    By Jill Chase For some, a mass of viburnums in bloom on the woodlands edge rivals the beauty of any formal garden around. The fresh white flowers on green foliage let you know that the spring garden season is well and truly on. There are several good varieties of viburnum—some produce blooms like snowballs, while […]

  • A Town Hall Treat for Pollinators

    The Norfolk Nature Alliance sponsored a student native plant garden project at Town Hall. The Northwestern Regional 7 Agricultural Education Program/FFA arrived on a sunny Sunday to install the donated native shrubs and perennials.

  • Birds Now

    A view on the prose and poetry of spring By Cheryl Heller As I write, the red-winged blackbirds are partying outside my window. Goldfinches, in their bright almost-summer feathers, make yellow polkadots in the dogwood that will flower any day. The phoebe (or her daughter) who has nested on our hanging porch light for the […]

  • Happiness Is …

    Smiles and squeals greeted “Farmer John” Coston as he surprised the Merrymakers group of kindergarten and first-graders with a lamb visit at the Norfolk Library’s after-school program on March 23. Cuties and lambs—need we say more?

  • Greenwoods Puppet Festival Returns to Norfolk Library

    By Bina ThomsonThe Greenwoods Puppet Festival returns to Norfolk for a third exciting showcase of puppet magic. Children’s Librarian and Event Coordinator Eileen Fitzgibbons, who has coordinated the previous two festivals, is busy fine-tuning this year’s offerings. In addition to a full day of performances, a puppetry workshop for adults will also be offered. Festivities […]

  • Botelle Beat

    Power Goals and WIN Time Personalize Learning at Botelle By Lauren Valentino One of Botelle School’s SOAR expectations is to Achieve Your Goals. We believe that when students know their goals—what they are learning, why and what success looks like—they are more engaged and motivated. They are partners in the learning process and own their […]

  • Courtney Maum’s Comedic Take on Capitalism

    On June 2nd, Norfolk author Courtney Maum launches her new novel, “ALAN OPTS OUT” (Little Brown) at the Norfolk Library in conversation with WAMC radio’s Sarah LaDuke. The book is a comedy about an ad exec who bombs the biggest pitch of his career and decides to move into a backyard playhouse, opt out of […]

  • “You Shall Not Pass!”

    Gandalf and the state Department of Transportation have spoken. Mountain Road at Westside Road is now closed through November for the Spaulding Brook bridge replacement project. Traffic is being detoured off Route 44 via Westside Road. Cars can still reach the ball fields along the short stretch of Mountain Road.

Articles

SELECTMAN’S CORNER

A Busy Norfolk Spring Has Arrived By Henry Tirrell Spring is officially here and so are the construction crews. The wall project along Route 44 has resumed activities, with temperatures providing better conditions for concrete. Excavation has begun at the site of the new firehouse to prepare for concrete foundation construction. In addition to those […]

School Budget, Truck Replacements Occupy Finance Board

By Susan MacEachron and Avice Meehan The Board of Finance held two meetings in March. On March 10, members heard presentations from the Botelle School Board of Education (BOE), the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) and First Selectman Henry Tirrell. At a March 24 special meeting, Tirrell shared the draft town budget, sought BOF approval […]

Mountain Road Detour Set for April 6

Motorists, cyclists, runners and walkers who enjoy the view of Norfolk’s iconic snake fence on Mountain Road will soon need to find an alternate path to Westside Road or destinations accessed from further along Mountain Road, among them the Curling Club and the Norfolk Country Club. Starting in early April, crews from Dayton Construction will […]

Baffling Budget Move Needed

By Avice Meehan Norfolk voters will likely see an unusual item on the agenda for this year’s annual town meeting in May: A request to appropriate $58,366 for Botelle Elementary School for the current fiscal year. The action will ensure that Norfolk remains in compliance with a nearly 40-year-old state statute that sets out minimum […]

NORFOLK WEATHER

February 2026: Cold and Snowy By Russell Russ The strong winter of 2025-26 continued through February. Deep freeze conditions are defined by periods when the daily high temperature does not exceed 32 degrees for 10 consecutive days. Norfolk was under those conditions for 18 consecutive days between Jan. 23 and Feb. 9. A high of […]

Greening of Norfolk

Spicebush: A Four-Season Gem By Jill Chase As a gardener, bee keeper and amateur naturalist, I am always looking for those magical plants that check all the boxes. Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is just such a plant. This undervalued shrub has much to offer. Spicebush starts the show early with a subtle display of bright green-yellow […]

BOOK TALK

Agility for the Win By Avice Meehan As Liz Tran worked on her first book, a conversation with a good friend made her realize that she needed to start over. If that wasn’t challenging enough, Tran found herself working inside a canvas camping tent during a hot Norfolk summer—just so that she could have decent […]

WORD TO THE WISE

Take Care to Avoid a Fall By Jude Mead After a long, icy winter that saw a spike in falls across town, residents are urged to look beyond seasonal hazards. While snow and ice can make conditions more dangerous, many serious falls occur daily during routine activities indoors, outdoors, or at work. The National Safety […]

Book Signing at the Library

Harriet Newman Cohen signs a copy of her newly-published book for Maura May after a riveting talk on March 21 at the Norfolk Library along with her coauthor David Feinberg. Their book, “Passion and Power: A Life in Three Worlds,” traces her ground-breaking career as a leading divorce attorney, from entering a male-dominated legal world […]

Work to Resume on Route 44 and New Firehouse

Warmer temps ensure concrete quality By Avice Meehan Two significant Norfolk projects that were put on hold because of below-zero temperatures this winter are expected to resume by mid-March: Reconstruction of two retaining walls along Route 44 and the construction of a new firehouse for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department. Engineers for the state Department […]

Richard Byrne Retires as Active Firefighter

After 58 years, veteran status By Joseph Kelly He was a young Navy veteran, about to be married and ready to start a family in his hometown when, in February 1968, his older brother convinced him to join the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD). For Richard Byrne it was the start of an association that […]

Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus Will Benefit Local Food Banks

Three Grammy nominees to perform at Infinity Hall By Colleen Gundlach On April 11, Infinity Hall will be the setting for Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus, a concert that will benefit Stock the Shelves, an outreach of United Way of Northwestern Connecticut. The Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus will feature three Grammy nominees […]