• Norfolk Crowds Return to New Farmers Market

    By Andra Moss The crowd was large, loud and loving it at July’s Northwest Farm to Fork farmers market, held under the pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. “We were very pleased with the turnout, with approximately 230 customers coming through and 16 food and farm vendors,” says Lisa Auclair, a co-founder, with Devin Grosso and […]

  • Friday Night on the Green Celebrates America’s 250th

    July 3 was a picture-perfect night for the community-wide event cel-ebrating America’s Independence. Following a quick parade, picnickers enjoyed burgers and ice cream while judges dug into the entries in the pie baking contest. First Selectman Hen-ry Tirrell moved seamlessly from his welcome speech to the dunk tank, and a few folks, like Pete Sanders […]

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS Laurene Mary Wallace

    Laurene Mary Wallace, 77, of Colebrook passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Friday, July 10, 2026. Laurene was born on April 28, 1949, in Bridgeport, the last of four children born to the late Lawrence and Irene (Misencik) Firmender of Stratford. A retired registered nurse, Laurene’s career in nursing and cardiac rehabilitation […]

  • Norfolk Remembers Sally Sterling Ellis Quale

    Sally Sterling Ellis Quale, of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Bronxville, N.Y., died unexpectedly of heart failure on July 7 at the age of 87. Sally will be remembered for her deep commitment to her family and communities and for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, creativity … and, of course, for her beautiful smile […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This charming house, still standing on the west side of Litchfield Rd., was built in 1905 for Richmond Paine, the newly appointed conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU). Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel engaged the architect Ehrick Rossiter to design the house for Paine as well as the Music Shed for performances by […]

  • Norfolk’s Newest Neighborhood Puts Down Roots

    Haystack Woods lauded as a “model for the state” By Joe Kelly Norfolk’s newest neighborhood, the Haystack Woods affordable housing development, has officially come to life. A year ago, the 39-acre location—a former gravel pit off Old Colony Road—was little more than a muddy building site. Now construction of the 10, two- and three-bedroom homes […]

  • Winsted Church Auctions Tiffany Window for $1.25 Million

    Sale highlights women’s role in Tiffany designs By Joe Kelly When medieval architects found ways to build taller cathedrals, the techniques they developed also made possible the enormous stained-glass windows that we so enjoy today, such as at Chartres and Sainte-Chapelle in France and Canterbury Cathedral in England. American-made stained glass is more recent, dating […]

  • A Revolutionary Year

    1776 Norfolk explored in summer exhibition By Andra Moss Communities across the country are looking back with wonder at 1776, the year that 13 British colonies initiated a revolution that, against astonishing odds, led to the birth of an independent republic. In Norfolk, two curators have combed the Norfolk Historical Society’s (NHS) collection for colonial-era […]

  • SUMMER MUSIC: Familiar Quartets, New Composers at Yale Chamber Festival

    By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, running from July 3 until Aug. 22, will present an exciting season of classical, innovative and international music. This summer, the Brentano Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Ying Quartet and the Horszowski Trio are among those who will perform during weekend concerts and serve as artist-in-residence mentors to the […]

  • Botelle Students Move Up

    By Avice Meehan Four sixth graders bid farewell to Botelle Elementary School at a laughter-filled, but occasionally serious, ceremony on June 16 that was attended by family, friends and town officials. First Selectmen Henry Tirrell, a Botelle graduate whose mother and aunt taught at the school for many years, reminded the students that they would […]

  • Norfolk Rail-Trail Project Pedals Forward

    By Jude Mead After more than a decade of planning, permiting and redesign work, Norfolk’s long-await-ed Rails-to-Trails initiative has reached a major milestone, bringing the community closer to the creation of a new multi-use recreational trail along a historic railroad corridor. The project is the North Brook Trail, a planned three-quarter-mile ADA-accessi-ble pathway that will […]

  • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Budgets, Beetles, Nips and More

    By Avice Meehan State Rep. Maria Horn came prepared to share details about the Connecticut budget (she is co-chair of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee) and the progress that has been made toward paying down the state’s unfunded pension liability, increasing the rainy day fund (now up to $18 billion) and allocating more state funds […]

Articles

Now in His 90s, John Thew Keeps Making Art

A Long and Fulfilling Life by Kelly Kandra Hughes John Garret Thew may have retired from making his renowned copper weathervanes in 2017, but that doesn’t mean interest in them has waned. When eight of his weathervanes were exhibited at the Norfolk Library during January, the circulation desk received so many sales inquiries the first […]

Restoration Takes Yale Art Barn from Stable to Star

Renovation seamlessly integrates the new with the historic Text by Andra MossPhotos by Rob Benson Photography The Art Barn on the Battell Stoeckel Estate in Norfolk has emerged from a year-long renovation with its original features intact, stunning architectural elements uncovered, and new design features added to create a modern, flexible space where art and […]

Norfolk Foundation Purchases Royal Arcanum Building

No major changes planned for this town landmark Text By Ruth MelvillePhoto Courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society On Nov. 1, the Norfolk Foundation (NF) announced its purchase of the Royal Arcanum building on Station Place. The William and Mary Greve Foundation of New York, under its president, Tony Kiser, gave the foundation the money […]

History of the Royal Arcanum Building

by Jude Mead In 1902 the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department and the council of the Royal Arcanum decided to work together to build a structure that could house both institutions. The NVFD needed somewhere fireproof in the center of town to keep their equipment. The members of the Royal Arcanum needed a place for their […]

The Capt. George Palmer House, c. 1755

This Old Norfolk House by Michael Cummings Kelly Approaching Norfolk from the west, just past the Blackberry River Inn (1763), the discerning motorist perceives on a gentle rise to the left an apparition sheathed in white. Spectral in appearance, the 1755 Capt. George Palmer House preens demurely, laying claim in its regal simplicity to being […]

Recap of November 2021 Elections

By Andra MossPhoto by Kelly Kandra Hughes The results of Norfolk’s 2021 municipal elections were officially released by Town Clerk Linda Perkins on Thursday, Nov. 4. Although local turnout for the election was not high, with 469 votes cast out of an electorate of 1,162, Norfolk’s voting rate of 44 percent still topped many Connecticut […]

Norfolk NET Wants to Give You $100 to Enrich the Town

New grant program will support projects that grow community by Kelly Kandra Hughes In Jan. 2020, Reverend Erick Olsen of the Church of Christ Congregational pitched an idea at a Norfolk NET (Networking Everyone Together) meeting:  a community contest with the goals of building new relationships, invigorating the town and, hopefully, encouraging more people to […]

Tenuta Market: Telling the Stories of Italian Foods

By Patricia Platt Two years ago, Ian Edwards studied Italian cooking at the renowned Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in rural Sicily. His love of Italian food led Edwards and his friend Travis Powell on meandering trips across Italy to explore the farms and estates where fine Italian ingredients are produced. Today, Edwards and Powell […]

Norfolk Library Awarded $15,000 in ARPA Funds

Buying hotspots, laptops, and iPads for patron use By Kelly Kandra Hughes Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, the Norfolk Library is now the recipient of over $15,000 in grant money. ARPA is the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package designed to facilitate the United States’ recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Libraries […]

Infinity Hall Is Building Back With a New Menu and Improved Sound

By Michael Cobb After more than a year of being shut down, Infinity Hall reopened its doors to the public last summer. But managing lost revenue and surviving with the help of governmental assistance were only part of the equation. Infinity Hall had plenty of behind-the-scenes work to do in preparation for reopening, including maintenance […]

Eileen Fielding of the Sharon Audubon Society: A Lifetime of Watching Birds

It’s Only Natural Text By Jude MeadPhoto by Michael Moschen If anyone knows about birds, it is Eileen Fielding. She started volunteering at an Audubon sanctuary in Massachusetts when she was 13. Today, with a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut, she’s the center director for the Sharon Audubon Center.  […]

Winsted’s Railway Café Serves Up Mouthwatering Breakfast and Lunch Dishes

By Colleen Gundlach The Covid pandemic inflicted devastation on many business owners, particularly those of small businesses. From the lockdown last year to unemployment issues this year, these companies have been hard hit. One local entrepreneur is an exception, though. Winsted resident Carrie Stetson took the Covid lemons and turned them into lemonade. Stetson had […]