• Early Morning Fire Guts Norfolk Barn

    Forty firefighters respond from five towns By Avice Meehan Adair Mali often sleeps with earplugs but dispensed with them on the night of Aug. 18, tired after a night at Tanglewood with her husband, Antonio Guindon, and another couple. Thank goodness she did. At about 4:20 a.m. Mali awoke to a “loud crackling noise” and […]

  • Litchfield County Choral Union Closes 2026 Season

    Celebrating America’s 250th birthday By Jude Mead The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) brought its 2026 summer season to a stirring close on Sunday, Aug. 2, with “From Roots to Promise: Singing America at 250,” an ambitious program that celebrated the country’s musical traditions while looking toward its future. The concert featured the LCCU anthem […]

  • Haystack Book Festival Returns to Norfolk

    Nationally recognized authors offer conversation and insights By Ann DeCerbo Book lovers, curious minds and anyone who enjoys a lively conversation about ideas have plenty to look forward to next month when the Haystack Book Festival returns to Norfolk Oct. 2–4 with events at Infinity Hall, the Norfolk Library and Great Mountain Forest. A program […]

  • Fire and Circus Arts on the Green

    By Jude Mead Matica Circus, a professional performing group based in Harwinton, Conn., brought an unforgettable combination of fire, acrobatics and circus arts to the Norfolk Village Green for the grand finale of the season of the Friday Nights on the Green summer concert series. The high-energy performance captivated the crowd with dramatic fire spinning, […]

  • Botelle Ushers in a New Year

    The first day of school dawned cool and cloudy, but no one seemed to notice. Students arrived at Botelle Elementary School on Aug. 26 via bus, car and firetruck (complete with siren). Some students, like Daphne Rutolo who walked her older sister to the bus, will have to wait for the start of the pre-Kindergarten […]

  • A New Year, New Pathways

    Northwestern Regional 7 expands opportunities for students By Virginia Coleman-Prisco As students and staff return to Northwestern Regional School District No. 7 (NWR7) middle and high schools for the 2026-27 school year, district leaders say the focus will be on strengthening student opportunities, preparing young people for an evolving workforce and building an even stronger […]

  • When Is a Check Really in the Mail?

    By Joseph Kelly The United States Postal Service (USPS), longtime target of many complaints and butt of numerous jokes, may seem an unlikely source of metaphysical speculation. But this year the USPS added a new wrinkle to an age-old question: When can it truly and truthfully be said that “a check is in the mail?” […]

  • Steady as She Goes

    Crews working on Norfolk’s new firehouse hoisted the “final” truss in place on Saturday, Aug. 29, as members of the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, town officials and representatives of Newfield Construction watched from the sidelines. The truss, signed by key players in the major project, marks a symbolic milestone toward completion of the building. NVFD […]

  • Caring for Forests: Ethan Tapper’s Message of Stewardship

    By Jude Mead Ethan Tapper recently spoke at the Church of Christ Congregational on the green about his work as a forester, author and advocate for the natural world. The evening centered on his 2024 book, “How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World,” which explores how forests function and […]

  • IT’ S ONLY NATURAL: Putting the Brakes on Bittersweet: a September Strategy

    by Susannah Wood Over the last couple of years, Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) has increasingly taken hold on Norfolk’s roadsides. Anyone who has driven back and forth to New York City over the years has seen how, unchecked, the vines can envelope trees, girdle and kill them, and leave behind a wrecked woodland. A member […]

  • Woodman Spare that Tree—Or Don’t

    The somewhat lopsided Japanese Zelkova tree that once stood near the entrance to Nor-folk’s Post Office on Station Place is no more. Likely planted some 30 years ago during Ar-thur Rosenblatt’s tenure as first selectman, the hardy tree fell victim to progress and the need to replace the adjacent sidewalk. The planned removal of the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the early 20th century, the Mountain Road bridge over Norfolk Brook had a rustic-style guard rail bordering the road and sidewalk. Characterized by the use of twigs, branches, and bark, the rustic style had been used in formal English gardens in the 1700’s and in this country was very popular in the second half […]

Articles

Prepare Now to Combat the Next Spongy Moth Season

Defending Norfolk’s Trees By Susannah Wood Last year an outbreak of spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars arrived in the Northwest Corner, defoliating the trees and turning entire hillsides back to early spring again. Norfolk forests suffered significant damage from these exotic pests, formerly known as gypsy moths. Towns to the west were even harder hit. […]

Noi Salon Turns Heads on Station Place

Around Town By Andra Moss People walking along Norfolk’s Station Place are doing a particular two-step these days when they pass the doorway east of the Hub—two steps past, then two steps back, a peer in the window, then a hand on the doorknob. They have discovered Noi Salon, the new full-service hair salon opened […]

A Norfolk Frog Makes Successful Hop to Sheffield

Out and About By Patricia Platt Longtime Norfolk natives who drive through Sheffield, Mass., might recognize a stylishly dressed frog on a sign outside a new business. Justin Vagliano has named his recently opened farm-to-table restaurant The Frog after a men’s haberdashery in Norfolk once owned by his father. Inside, you can see the original […]

Eversource Price Hike LEads Many to Seek Alternate Suppliers

By Avice Meehan Asking someone what they pay per kilowatt hour of electricity is more likely to generate a confused stare than spark a lively conversation. At least that was true until November, when local energy provider Eversource announced it would seek a 50 percent hike in the cost of supplying electricity to residential and […]

Stone Walls – Built to Last the Test of Times

It’s Only Natural By Jude Mead If stonewalls could talk, they would have centuries of stories to tell and would reveal a wealth of history. According to Susan Allport, author of “Sermons in Stone,” stonewalls date back to the agricultural era of the late 1700s. “Stonewalls have a checkered past in terms of how they […]

Dawn Whalen Retiring as Executive Director of Norfolk Foundation

Text by Leila JavitchPhoto Courtesy of Dawn Whalen Dawn Whalen became the first executive director of the Norfolk Foundation (NF) in November 2016, arriving after three years as executive director of Habitat for Humanity for Northwest Connecticut. Mark Burke, a Norfolk resident and former member of the Habitat board, urged her to apply to head […]

Two First-Time Playwrights Explore Lives on Stage

Text by Andra MossPhotos by Adam Heller Two one-act plays, written by Norfolk-based playwrights Sara Heller and Marinell Crippen, will premiere on Feb. 25 at the Norfolk Library. Both women are actors who have trained and worked in New York City, and Crippen is house manager at the Sharon Playhouse. Although neither had ever seriously […]

Norfolk Swimmer Olivia Olsen Changes Lane

High school senior recruited to row for Syracuse University Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto Courtesy of Syracuse University Norfolk’s Olivia Olsen has spent her whole life swimming. Now a high school senior she had planned to swim competitively in college, and the SwimCloud coaching platform has her ranked 82nd in Connecticut in terms of recruitment. […]

Tanker Crash Emergency Ends, But Recovery Stretches On

Cleanup likely to take at least a year Text By Ruth MelvillePhoto Courtesy of Verdantas Over 75 people gathered in Botelle School’s Hall of Flags on Nov. 15 to attend an informational meeting about the current state of cleanup after the gasoline tanker crash on Route 44.   Seated behind the long table across the front […]

The Quiet of a Norfolk Street Is Upended Overnight

Residents cope with aftereffects of tanker crash Text By Andra MossPhoto by Joe Kelly Some were awakened by sirens, others by an alert of a power outage, but on Saturday, Nov. 5, homeowners along Maple Avenue soon realized that something very significant had occurred when the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) appeared at their doors, […]

How a Seabee Ended Up Working in the Northwest Woods

From Persia to Pines Text By David BeersPhoto Courtesy of Great Mountain Forest On top of a bookshelf in Matt Gallagher’s Great Mountain Forest (GMF) office is a photo of him in military fatigues with former president George W. Bush in Kuwait. How does this framed photo reside in a forestry office in woodsy northwest […]

Northwest Corner Provides a Range of Transportation Alternatives

Need a Ride? By Avice Meehan By Avice Meehan Ask anyone who lives in Norfolk without a car, and they will tell you that the town-supported community van makes a major difference in their lives.   “My basic feeling is that if we didn’t have the Norfolk service, [life] would be very difficult,” says Sue Frisch, […]