• 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 […]

  • Rom-Com Curling Film Released With Olympics

    To get the ice just right, filmmakers tapped Norfolk expertise By Joseph Kelly The underdogs who battle the odds—the washed-up boxer, the outclassed football team, the aging baseball slugger with one last homerun in him—are all Hollywood standbys. Ronald Reagan may be remembered as much for “win one for the Gipper” as he is for […]

  • How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning

    By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]

  • Choral Singing Meets Bluegrass

    LCCU welcomes all ages to sing new styles By Andra Moss The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) is entering its 127th concert year with decidedly youthful energy. Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Gabriel Löfvall, the LCCU will convene a youth choral festival in Norfolk in late spring; offer a series of choral seminars […]

  • Winter Weekend In Norfolk

    It was a cold and blustery weekend, but that didn’t stop the hardy from coming out on Feb. 21 and 22 for Winter WIN, the weekend for enjoying all things Norfolk in the winter season. The photos below show a story of a town that came together to strut its stuff for the world to […]

  • From Freeze to Flow: Extreme Temps and the Maple Syrup Season

    Reaching that ideal mix of natural conditions By Jude Mead The extreme cold and heavy snowfall this season has raised some concern among maple syrup producers. Reports of loud, cracking noises in wooded areas have set the stage for a phenomenon called “frost cracking.” During these periods of intense cold, the water and sap inside […]

  • Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale

    With Jude Mead at the guitar and with great enthusiasm, members of the Isabella Eldridge Club defied a threatened winter storm and entered Battell Chapel on Feb. 10 for a memorable performance of an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” a daft 1960s television comedy. Despite the best efforts of the Professor (played by Marinell Crippen, left) […]

  • Cook For Goodness Sake

    America The Melting Pot By Linda Garrettson In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, it seems appropriate to dedicate my food column this year to America, who we are, and what we eat. Get ready for some history lessons, and perhaps surprises that might enlighten you to what we call American […]

  • Be Careful, Very Careful

    An expert team from the Glass Source Stained Glass Studio spent nearly six hours in cold mid-January weather care-fully removing a cathedral stained glass window from Battell Chapel at the United Church of Christ before transporting it to their studio in Seymour for restoration. In this photo, Michael Skrtic balances one section of the window […]

  • The Week that Was

    First, frigid temperatures forced the relocation of Norfolk’s valiant Post Office staff to Winsted because of scheduled asbestos remediation, leaving box holders temporarily puzzled. Then, the big snow arrived on Jan. 25 and 26. Estimates vary widely: Russell Russ reported the official tally at the Great Mountain Forest weather station as 15.2 inches, but others […]

Articles

“No Mow May” Movement Wants to Protect Spring Habitats of Local Pollinators

It’s Only Natural By Kelly Kandra Hughes The Norfolk Conservation Commission, the Church of Christ and the Land Trust have a request this coming May: Please don’t mow your lawn! The initiative known as “No Mow May” is a growing movement across the United Kingdom and the United States. The reason behind it is simple—not […]

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 […]