• 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

Suffragists Hit the Road to Norfolk

by Andra Moss Something special was in the air in August 1911. It was the sound of women’s voices rising, once again, to demand their right to vote. Decades of unsuccessful advocacy for women’s suffrage in Connecticut had left many discouraged at the turn of the 20th century, but by 1911 fresh winds were blowing. […]

Combating the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

by Mattie Vandiver The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) is an insect native to Japan that was first noted in Connecticut in 1985 when a foliage sample was brought to the research station in New Haven. Since then it has been an ongoing issue in Connecticut as well as many other states, although Norfolk has barely […]

Tom Hlas Has Signed, Sealed, and Delivered with Mail Art

Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Tom Hlas Tom Hlas always knew he wanted to be an artist. Born and raised in Elberon, Iowa (population at the time about 100 people), Hlas remembers being four years old and playing with cars on his parents’ chenille bedspread. When his oldest sister, home from college, asked him […]

The Healing Nest Is a New Center for Wellness and Community

By Ruth Melville When Dianna Hofer was young, she was fascinated with the placebo effect and startled to learn that people normally use only 5 percent of their brains. In college, as she studied more about the mind, she began to think of it as “the greatest new frontier.” Four decades of continuing investigation into […]

Helping Hands Are Everywhere If You Know Where to Look

By Doug McDevitt Norfolk is a community, much like any other, where some neighbors are in great need but may not know where to go or whom to reach out to for help. The good news is that Norfolk has many avenues for people to discreetly receive help.  One such avenue is Norfolk NET, short […]

Conservation Commission Serves to Protect Norfolk’s Natural Resources

Town Boards, Commissions, & Committees by Ruth Melville Every town in Connecticut is empowered by the state to have a conservation commission, whose duties are to care “for the development, conservation, supervision and regulation of natural resources, including water resources.” To fulfill this mission, the Norfolk Conservation Commission (NCC) is active on several fronts, from […]

Growing Up Black in Norfolk

The Rev. Dr. Shelley Best Text by Kelly Kandra Hughes The Rev. Dr. Shelley Best has achieved a lot in her 59 years of life. She is currently the pastor of A.M.E. Zion Church in Plainville, Conn. She has raised over $10 million dollars for her uplifting and empowering ministries. She created The 224 Ecospace, […]

“A World Without Insects is a World Without People.” E.O. Wilson

Pollinators Imperiled by Susannah Wood The declining population of monarch butterflies, those champions of migration, has been well-documented over recent years, but has only become more dire. Between 1996 and 2020, 88 percent of the eastern population of monarchs has disappeared. In the western group the situation is even worse; only a few thousand remain. […]

Harmony Online

by Janet Gokay Mead During the pandemic, the Norfolk Library stepped up to the plate with a host of online programs: art shows, mindfulness classes, studio tours, book groups. In the dead of winter a group of six intrepid souls signed up for one of the library’s more unusual Zoom classes: Harmonica I. The results […]

Norfolk Kicks Off Summer

Mardi Gras: Move Over Text by Janet Gokay MeadPhotos by Sonja Zinke New Orleans may have its Mardi Gras parade. New York City can boast about its Macy’s Day—or its Gay Pride—parade. But, really, do any of them compare to the spectacle that the Norfolk Library inspired on Friday, June 12?  More than 30 pets […]

Coleridge-Taylor Had Norfolk Connections

by Andra Moss The glorious days of July usher in the return of the Norfolk Music Festival, albeit still in virtual format. This year, the program for July 23 will feature a special tie to the festival’s historic past, highlighting the work of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Although one of the best-known composers of his era, […]

From Norfolk to Broadway and Back to Norfolk

Ted Sperling’s career has come full circle by Michael Cobb Ted Sperling first became acquainted with Norfolk in 1981, while studying the viola at the Yale Summer School of Music. As a student, he had a front-row seat to the evolution of the Tokyo String Quartet, who were in residence that year, breaking in the […]