• 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

Norfstrom’s First Winter

Text and Photo by Kelly Kandra Hughes Five months have gone by since Norfstroms opened at the Transfer Station in June. So far, this experiment is heading in the right direction. Response has been enthusiastic, donations have been abundant, and volunteers have been outstanding. But what will happen to Norfstroms during Norfolk’s cold and snowy […]

From Puppy to Assistance Dog

ECAD provides animals and training that help change lives Text and Photo by Jude Mead Some people are great at seeing a situation and assessing ways to solve it. Lu and Dale Picard are two such people. In 1995, the couple founded ECAD, the East Coast Assistance Dogs facility. According to Ms. Picard, ECAD was […]

Identifying Invasive Plants in Norfolk’s Village Center

Conservation Commission to lead inventory walk By Martha KleinPhoto by Bruce Frisch November is a perfect time of year to identify and remove invasive plants in Norfolk, because the fall color changes make some of these plants very visible. For example, the plant Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) is an invasive shrub seen along roadsides near woods, and […]

Breathing New Life into an Historical Landmark

Crissey Place has a new owner By Doug McDevitt Sometimes a good thing just can’t be kept down, even in the form of a house. A very old house. It’s located just inside the village green as you travel north towards Maple Street. It’s the first house you see on your right and it is […]

Fidlar, Charles Lenhart: 1940 – 2019

Charles L. Fidlar died on Dec. 14 at his home in Norfolk, Conn. with family by his side. Charles was born in Terre Haute, Ind. and then moved to Hartford and Windsor, Conn. as a youth. He lived 17 years in the San Francisco Bay area before settling in Norfolk. He was born into a […]

Help! My Friend Hit an Owl

A smalltown wildlife rescue in the age of social media By Heath Hughes BAM! Something hit my car as I was driving home on Route 44 one night last fall. The sun had just crossed the edge of the trees and it was almost completely dark. I caught a glimpse of large, white wings.  I […]

Town Looks at Creating Solar Farm

Takes first steps to creating solar array at town landfill by David Beers On the same 149-acre town property where the transfer station is located, the town farm was established by the town in the 1800s to provide food and shelter to Norfolk’s indigent population. This was a town-run residence where destitute people were supported […]

Iconic Church Steeple Set for Temporary Removal

Judged unsafe in high winds By Kelly Kandra Hughes On September 8, after its Sunday worship service, the congregation of the United Church of Christ, Congregational voted on whether to remove the church steeple. Engineers had determined that even after recent repairs, the steeple was not guaranteed to be safe during winds greater than 40 […]

A Weekend of Puppets, Marionettes and Stiltwalkers: The Greenwoods Puppet Festival

A busker walks out from behind the puppet stage, ukulele in hand, and sings a brief history of the art of puppetry. There was Punch and Judy, of course, but also Pulcinella, escaped from the commedia dell’arte; Guignol, of the sharp wit and heavy cudgel; Karagöz, the Turkish shadow puppet; and Kaspar and Gretel, originally […]

Is Broadband for the Whole Town in Our Future?

By Andrew Thomson A few weeks ago, I sat at the counter in the Berkshire Country Store drinking my morning coffee and was approached by Norfolk Now to write an article about the initiative to bring a fiber optic connection to every house in town. As a millenial, I have realized that my age has […]

Convenience at Its Best

Berkshire Country Store to Launch “Norfolk Store 24” By Doug McDevitt We all enjoy convenience. While fishing the Housatonic River for many years, one of my convenient stops afterward was at a little corner store in Cornwall where I could enjoy a hot beverage or sandwich. It was warm and quaint inside and finished my […]

New Town Plan Imagines Downtown as ‘Campus’

Takes hard look at parking and pedestrian access By Wiley Wood With little fanfare and to sparse public attention, the Planning and Zoning Commission adopted a new town plan on Sept. 9. The document, which builds on earlier plans and a community input process that started eighteen months ago, is intended to guide growth and […]