• 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 […]

  • great blue heron rookeries

    working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn […]

  • Looking Back Over the Years

    The End of an Era for Norfolk Now By Colleen Gundlach After 10 years and over 30 issues, Ruth Melville has put on her Norfolk Now editor’s hat for the last time. In June, the paper marked the end of an era with the publication of Ruth’s final issue as one of the executive editors […]

  • A Look Into Norfolk’s Past

    Exhibit Explores Pupin’s Haven of Happiness on Westside Road By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Historical Museum graces Norfolk’s village green with the reserve and understated elegance of a New Englander well worth getting to know. Visitors who step inside will find exhibits that tell the stories of the town’s past, often with intriguing ties to […]

  • Norfolk Past and Present

    The Summer Chapel Eases Gracefully Into Its 130 Years By Elizabeth Bailey Ayreslea Rowland Denny began attending services at The Church of the Transfiguration in Norfolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. A New Yorker, she was a student at the Chapin School in New York City, but her family had been […]

  • Church Steeple Shines Once Again

    Local dignitaries and friends of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational gathered on Saturday, May 25, to formally celebrate the completion of the steeple restoration project. The Rev. Erick Olsen thanked the community for supporting the years-long effort and welcomed everyone to enjoy a splendid cake featuring an image of the steeple.

  • Making the Native… Personal

    Cheryl Heller Builds a Wild Garden in Norfolk By Joe Kelly Gardens are best when they’re personal, argued the late Fred McGourty, who remains Norfolk’s best- known plantsmen. McGourty’s 1989 book, “The Perennial Gardener,” recounts the gardens he and his wife, Mary Ann, created at Hillside, their home near Dennis Hill State Park. Were he […]

  • This Old Norfolk House

    Stevens House By Joe KellyWhen our Puritan forebears arrived on these shores in the early 1600s, they were no doubt surprised todiscover how the traditional thatched roof cottages they knew from back home were no match for thewind and cold of a typical New England winter. But it would have likely surprised them even more […]

  • Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

    By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

  • Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

    By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the late 19th century, the arrival of every train at the depot on Station Place was widely anticipated.There were freight trains, milk trains and passenger trains unloading throngs of summer visitors. Theattractive station pictured here was built in 1898, replacing an earlier modest structure. Constructed ofnative granite, it was designed by Hill & Turner, […]

Articles

Norfolk Remembers: Eleanor Curtiss Ellert

Eleanor Curtiss Ellert passed away on February 23, 2024, at the young age of 96. She was born in Norfolk, in 1927 to Albert H. and Elizabeth (Manville) Curtiss. Although she moved away from Norfolk during her marriage to her first husband of 14 years, she returned with her son, Clifford Bell, after her divorce. […]

Local Farmers Navigate Shift in Weather Patterns, Hardiness Zones

Norfolk reclassified as zone 6 By Jude Mead Gardening and farming have always been important in the Northwest Corner, and those involveddepend on the Plant Hardiness Zone Map released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to helpthem determine the best practices in these activities. Growing zones help identify the types of plantsand crops that […]

New Choral Union Director Plans Multigenerational Rebuild

Singers of all ages invited to join LCCU By Patricia Platt“When the Litchfield County Choral Union sings, our love of music and Mozart fills the air,” announcedGabriel Lofvall, the LCCU’s new musical director. Rehearsals will start in late May for an August concertwhich will include Mozart’s “Mass of the Sparrows (Spatzenmesse),” a selection of pieces […]

Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

A Norfolk Library Card Unlocks a World of Digital Collections

Apps offer readers free access to e-content By Andra MossThe Norfolk Library may be filled with history (and books), but it is also an outstanding resource fordigital media. Thanks to several easy-to-use apps, the library provides 24/7 access to a universe of freedigital collections via the power of a library card. Tired of watching that […]

Focus on New Firehouse shifts to funding

Costs likely to rise beyond initial $5 million estimate By Joe Kelly After months of sometimes contentious public hearings, plans for a new Norfolk firehouse are nearing the end of the wetlands/zoning part of the approval process and heading into a decisive new phase: finding the money to pay for it all. The Planning & […]

Pig Iron Films

East Canaan Landmark Was Inspiration for Filmmaking Business By Michael Cobb Perotti is a name well known throughout the northwest corner of Connecticut. Though he has worked as a plumbing apprentice for the family business, Perotti & Sons, Inc., Ted Perotti’s vocation has led him in a different direction –  filmmaking. A native of East […]

New Beginnings

Jennifer Almquist Works to Document the Faces of Homelessness and Poverty By Bina Thomson When Jennifer Almquist first heard an offhand comment about “the people living in the woods,” she had to find out more. Almquist, a lifelong resident of Northwestern Connecticut, knew that the woods between Norfolk and Winsted were not a good place […]

The Curling Weatherman

Russell Russ Has Written his 200th Norfolk Weather Column for Norfolk Now By David Beers What do you get when you combine a wry wit, Minnesota nice, the weather, some curling, and a woodsman sprinkled with maple sugar? You get Russell Russ.  In April of 2006, three years after the start of Norfolk Now, Russ […]

Botelle Students to Present “Frozen Jr.” March 22 and 23

By Andra Moss What more ideal setting could there be for a production of Frozen Jr., this year’s musical by the students of Botelle Elementary School, than the Icebox of Connecticut?  “Frozen Jr. is an abbreviated version of the 2018 Broadway show by Disney,” explains Becky Keyes, a co-director, with Megan Schneider, of the production. […]

Eye on the Arts: Local Dance Company Inspires Audiences with Emotional Performances

By Bina Thomson Garet Wierdsma began dancing as a young child, but it didn’t become a passion until her teenage years. Now she runs Garet&Co, a contemporary dance company that offers breathtaking performances to audiences throughout northwestern Connecticut. The company will be making a welcome return to Norfolk on March 9 with a performance in […]