• 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

The Wilcox Tavern House

This Old Norfolk House Text By Michael SelleckPhoto Courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society It’s probably not a good idea to fall in love with a house, but that’s exactly what I did when I first visited the Wilcox Tavern in 2016. I was searching for an 18th-century house because I was looking for a […]

Norfolk Child Care Celebrates a Decade of Learning and Fun

Caring for Our Most Precious Assets By Colleen Gundlach A lot has changed since Donna Adams opened her Norfolk Child Care (NCC) nine years ago, but the basic tenets on which the center was built have remained consistent. Adams says the main focus of guiding each child toward independence and preparing them for preschool will […]

WIN’s YouTube Channel Brings the World to Norfolk

By Ruth Melville When the Covid pandemic hit in 2020, Sue Frisch and the rest of the Weekend in Norfolk (WIN) team were, like so many other art and cultural organizers, faced with a tough question: How can we keep going without an audience? Since its inaugural session in 2016, WIN, a weekend-long festival designed […]

NN Pulls up a Chair with Small Business Owner Ryan Craig

Photo by Allen Dennis Ryan Craig has owned and operated the Berkshire Country Store in Norfolk since 2017. Norfolk Now recently sat down with him to ask about the store and what it’s like being a small business owner in the Northwest Corner.  NN: Let’s dive in deep: Most popular sandwich? RC: In terms of […]

In Search of the People of Pond Town Cemetery

Text By Vicky MacLean and Linda PerkinsPhoto By Vicky MacLean Located on Doolittle Drive, across from Benedict Lake, is a small cemetery surrounded by woodland known as Pond Town Cemetery. It holds a few more than 200 gravesites. Do you believe someone in your family might be buried here? If so, please join our project […]

Quietly Celebrating 50 Years of Service with the Fire Department

NVFD, town applaud Ron Zanobi’s 5 decades of dedication Every town and community needs people who put others first, who do not strive for the spotlight, but prefer to be behind the scenes, ensuring that things are taken care of. This is an opportunity for Norfolk to acknowledge one of its quiet heroes. Ron Zanobi […]

Caring for the Northwest Corner in Perpetuity

Text by Nicole Carlson EasleyPhoto by Katherine Griswold Working with the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Norfolk resident Sally Vaun has recently endowed a scholarship fund to support local students studying medicine and healthcare. Vaun spent much of her childhood playing in the rolling farmland of Pennsylvania. She worked on her family’s farm, tending to chickens, […]

Forty Years of Snow Sculpting for the Best Possible Ski

By David Beers It is an exciting February for winter sports, as many enjoyed watching the Olympics. Norfolk Curling Club is sending a curler to the Paralympics this year and has sent other Norfolk-based winter athletes to the Olympics in the past. While impressive for such a small town, this should come as no surprise […]

Bringing Irish Cheer and “Trad” to the Norfolk Library

Text by Michael CobbPhoto by Anna Colliton On Sunday, March 13, at 5 p.m., the Norfolk Library will present an entertaining evening of traditional Irish music with the help of Irish duo The Murphy Beds—plus a few fabulous “Friends.” The group features guitarists and singer-songwriters Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer, both internationally recognized Irish musicians. […]

Making Maple Syrup: A Sweet Process Revealed

By Jude Mead Maple syrup is a wholesome and natural sweetener that is produced by boiling the sap that flows out of the sugar maple tree in early spring. Many people look forward to the annual winter tradition of standing in the middle of a steam-filled room, inhaling that sweet maple scent and tasting fresh, […]

Trustees Aim to Take Stoeckel Estate Into the Next Century

Eldridge Barn and Music Shed annex up next for renovation by Andra Moss In an unprecedented public meeting, the Trustees of the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust (EBST), deans of the Yale University schools of music and art and the directors of the Yale Summer School of Music and Art came together at the Hub (some […]

Local Group Hopes to Welcome an Afghan Refugee Family to Torrington

by Kelly Kandra Hughes The end of August 2021 saw the United States’ final withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. During the withdrawal, over 75,000 Afghan refugees were evacuated through Operation Allies Welcome. Although many have now been resettled throughout the United States, there are still approximately 23,000 refugees living on six US military bases. Thanks […]