• 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

Marty the Robot Arrives at Stop & Shop

Technology Report By Jude Mead If you shop at Stop and Shop in Canaan you might encounter Marty, an autonomous robot that roams throughout the store using image technology to notify store employees of any spills, debris or other potential hazards that may impede the safety of the customer. Stefanie Shuman, the communications manager for […]

Discussing the Future of Farming with Presidential Hopeful

Amanda Freund raises awareness of ecological advantage of farming By Colleen Gundlach The future of the farming community, and of northwestern Connecticut farmers in particular, was brought into the national spotlight when Amanda Freund of East Canaan had the opportunity to question a potential Democratic presidential candidate about his thoughts on the matter. Freund, whose […]

New Program to Bring a Little Wild Into Your Life

By Ruth Melville For the past few years, Norfolk resident Angela Luna Grano, a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator, has been offering presentations on nature and animals for children at local schools and libraries. But recognizing that adults, too, might need a little wildness in their lives, she developed a new program, called “Wild Magic,” that […]

Bibliomania: The Passion for Books and for Collecting Them

New exhibition opening at the Historical Society Museum By Ruth MelvillePhoto, top, of curator Lucy Mookerjee at the Norfolk Historical Society, by Bruce Frisch.In the late 18th century, a popular hobby, especially among English gentlemen, scholars and clergymen, was collecting books. In his 1809 book “Bibliomania; or Book Madness,” the English bibliographer Thomas Dibdin satirized […]

Maria Horn Discusses Education at Norfolk Forum

A statewide cooperative to stabilize special education costs is being considered By Wiley Wood State Representative Maria Horn recently addressed a group of Norfolk residents about education and education funding. The meeting was held at Botelle School on Aug. 1, with about 45 people in attendance. Horn reported that a task force delegated by the […]

Michele Sloane Retiring as Tax Assessor

By Colleen GundlachPhoto by Bruce Frisch An era will come to an end when Norfolk’s long-term and well-respected tax assessor retires next month. Michele Sloane, who also serves as chairman of the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z), recently took some time from organizing her move to Florida to reminisce about her years in Norfolk […]

Eliza Little Lays Out Latest Findings About Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases

By Susannah WoodPhotos by Bruce Frisch On Saturday, Aug. 10, Eliza Little gave the annual Ted Byers lecture at the Doolittle Club in front of a standing-room-only audience. The lectures are free and open to the public. Little, a postdoctoral researcher at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven for the past two years, […]

The Haystack Book Talks Festival Returns for a Second Year

A new lineup of writers in conversation By Marie-Christine Perry This summer saw Haystack Book Talks bring three stand-alone talks to the Norfolk Library: Byron Kim and Lisa Sigal, the new directors of the Yale Summer School of Art, talked with Nell Painter, the distinguished American historian and author of “Old in Art School: A […]

Little Red Barn Brewers Is Part of the Renaissance of Winsted

By Jeremy WithnellPhoto by Bruce Frisch  Nils Johnson, co-owner of Little Red Barn Brewers in Winsted, speaks of his brewery in much the same way a parent does of their infant child, with pride and mild exhaustion. “Might be nice to get some more sleep one of these days,” he confides. Still, through the entire […]

New Year, New Beginnings at Botelle

By Virginia Coleman-PriscoPhoto, of some of Botelle School’s new staffers this year (from left: Melissa Asselin, Winter Thorne-Kaunelis, Erin Dubecky, Lauren Montagna, Tyler Yelsits, Mary Krusch, Erica McCleary and Shana Bazelmans), by Virginia Coleman-Prisco As summer winds down, Botelle Elementary School is already buzzing with activity in preparation for the new school year. The Botelle […]

Norfolk Library Presents the First Greenwoods Puppet Festival Weekend

Renowned puppeteers to bring their magic and creativity to town By Eileen FitzgibbonsPhoto, of Alex and Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) with their puppet Milo the Magnificent, by Sean Dennie This month, by the light of the Harvest Moon, puppets tiny and mighty will find their way to the first Greenwoods Puppet Festival. […]