• Sweets on the Green

    A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7.     Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]

  • Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End

    Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]

  • New Meanings for a Monument

    Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]

  • Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day

    plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]

  • NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners

    More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]

  • Can you spot the Real Curler?

    There was movie magic ice to be made, and the pros of the Norfolk Curling Club were the first to get the call. In October, NCC’s Jon Barbagallo, Lou Barbagallo, Rachel Barbagallo, Mark Walsh, Harvey Chalmers and Phill West were hired by a production company to make curling ice at a Rhode Island hockey rink […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1917 photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties, including the right to own property, hold public office, sit on juries, participate in public assemblies and vote. The group of 25 suffragists—20 women and five men—gathered on the porch following their meeting with Congressman […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

The Norfolk Community Association, 125 Years Old and Going Strong

By Ruth Melville In 1895, the Norfolk Village Improvement Association was organized with the goal of preserving and enhancing the town’s beauty. Their first project was to lay a flagstone walk from the library to the railroad bridge. The association went on to put in further sidewalks and, in 1911, to restore the Village Green […]

Norfolk’s November and December Weather and a Yearly Summary for 2019

A cool and wet conclusion to 2019 By Russell Russ The year of 2019 came to a close with winter conditions making the headlines. November was considerably colder than normal, and December had an above-normal snowfall total. Unlike some recent years when winter seemed to be delayed until January, the close of 2019 saw winter […]

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): It’s More Than the Winter Blues

By Kelly Kandra Hughes It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s what we tell ourselves as we approach Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. But for an estimated 10 million Americans, the winter months are a time marked by sadness, loss of interest in favorite activities, changes in sleep and energy levels, and increased […]

Exploring Norfolk’s History

A Walk Along the Blackberry River Finds Traces of Norfolk’s Industrial Past Text by Ruth MelvillePhoto by Savage Frieze Once you know where to look, the signs of Norfolk’s industrial past are everywhere, and Richard Byrne knows where to look. He has spent decades trolling through historical records at Town Hall—survey maps and deeds—and searching […]

Reading Forest Signs: Bear’s Nests

Text and Photos by Wiley Wood The first dusting of snow in the forest shows us what we know anyway—the woods are full of animals, we just don’t see them. A day after the snowfall, you might come across the print of a foraging mouse traveling from the base of a windthrown tree to a […]

Colebrook Weaver and Activist Receives Creative Arts Award

Maltz honored for her work with the Norfolk Makerspace  Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Sue Williams Colebrook’s Alesia Maltz has been a weaver since childhood. Her love of fiber began when her Aunt Bea told her she didn’t have to spend her weekly allowance on Barbie clothes at the store, she could knit them […]

Norfolk Farm Talks Turkey

Text by Jeremy WithnellPhoto by Bruce Frisch For many household cooks, Thanksgiving means finding room in the refrigerator to accommodate 20 pounds of poultry for a couple of days in order to properly defrost it. For those lucky enough to be in the know about Lost Ruby Farm in south Norfolk, there’s a better way. […]

Norfolk Costumer Readies Tin Soldiers for This Year’s Battle With Mouse King

Text by Wiley WoodPhoto by Bruce Frisch On a Monday morning in early November, costume designer Susan Aziz apologized for the bareness of her studio. Fittings had been held over the weekend for the Nutmeg Ballet’s new production of “The Nutcracker,” and most of the costumes were now at the theater. “We fitted nine mice, […]

Going Completely Over the Edge But Doing It for a Good Cause

Event company helps organizations raise funds Text by Heath and Kelly Hughes Photo Courtesy of Daryl Byrne Imagine standing at the top of a building 485 feet tall. To help raise money for Connecticut Special Olympics, you agreed to rappel down the building. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but now you’re here […]

Norbrook Farm Brewery Hopes to Build on a Successful Start

Owners want to bring in food trucks Text and Photo by Doug McDevitt For many, sipping a fine ale with friends, revisiting past adventures or planning new ones and talking history or debating current events in a comfortable setting can be as good as it gets. What could make that even better? Perhaps a really […]

Neighbors in the News

Torpedoed Ship and Stolen Identity Are Basis of Author’s Second Novel Text by Colleen GundlachPhoto Courtesy of Frank Buyak It was spring, 1939, and the feeling of unrest in Europe was increasing. World War II was in the offing. Frank Buyak was less than two years old when he, his brother and his mother were […]

American Mural Project to Honor the American Worker

American Mural Project Will Be Five Stories Tall and 120 Feet Long  Text and Photo by Jeremy Withnell The first impression one gets when stepping into the cavernous space occupied by the American Mural Project (AMP) in Winsted is one of enormity. This work of art, once completed, will stand five stories tall and 120 […]