• 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

Robocalls: Aiming to End Them

Deluge of calls driving people crazy By Jude Mead I’m losing the battle! Yesterday I received 14 robocalls on my landline and five on my cellphone. For years I never answered a number or name I did not know. Today, however, I have to use the same caution when I see a name or number […]

Norfstroms Celebrates One Month of Recycling Success

And a few lessons earned By Kelly Kandra Hughes “Welcome to Norfstroms!” Friendly volunteers greet residents as they approach the latest addition at the transfer station—an 8’ x 20’ shed that houses everything and anything from dinnerware and glasses to shovels and rakes. The shed, named Norfstroms by a town contest, is a collaborative, experimental […]

Art, Yearning and Bad Behavior in 1930s Mexico

Historical fiction from a Norfolk novelist By Wiley Wood Courtney Maum has a new book coming out: a novel, “Costalegre,” set in Mexico during the mid-1930s, told in the voice of a 15-year-old girl. In the foreground are the girl’s wealthy, spoiled American mother and the boatload of ego-driven artists she has brought with her—rescued—from […]

The Litchfield County Choral Union Celebrates 120 Years

Honoring the Stoeckel legacy By Colleen Gundlach The year was 1899 when Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel decided to honor her father, Robbins Battell, by starting a choral festival in Norfolk. The Stoeckels had been opening their home, Whitehouse, for musical gatherings for several years, so it was a natural offshoot for them to expand […]

WIN, WIN for Norfolk

 Town festival celebrates its fourth year By Doug McDevittPhoto by Bruce Frisch Most great ideas come when we least expect them. In a dream or a daydream, during a conversation with a better half when we should be listening, or while running simple errands, it sometimes can’t be helped, they just pop in there. Well, […]

Chamber Music Festival Shifts Into a Higher Register

By James Nelson With the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival now underway, there’s been a surge of activity on the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate. The students are here and making great use of Infinity Bistro, the Country Store, the Pub and the Hub. Audiences are coming for our series of concerts, lectures and master classes, and […]

Norfolk Fire Department Gets Updated Rescue Equipment

Generous donations enable purchase By Jon BarbagalloPhoto courtesy of Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department The Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department has received and already put into service our newest extrication tools, thanks to the Auxiliary for Community Health in Winsted and the largest response to date to our annual appeal. After an extensive research, the NVFD chose to purchase battery-operated spreaders and cutters […]

Mary Lou Cobb Retires as Head of The Cobb School Montessori in Simsbury

By Kay Desai Photo courtesy of the Cobb School Montessori On June 1, over 400 students, alumni, parents, grandparents and friends came together in Simsbury, Conn., to celebrate Mary Lou Cobb on her retirement as head of The Cobb School Montessori, which she founded 45 years ago. A number of guests came from California and […]

Jon Riedeman: The Art of Music

Photo by Bruce Frisch Last month the Infinity Gallery was host to a show by one of its own, Jon Riedeman. Riedeman is Infinity Hall’s box office manager, but he is also an award-winning sculptor who has exhibited frequently throughout the area. For the past 10 years he has been able to combine his love […]

Plenty of Activities to Keep Kids Happy All Summer Long

Loving Summer in Norfolk By Virginia Coleman-Prisco Although Norfolk is known as the Ice Box of Connecticut, there are plenty of events and activities for families during the summer months. There is a wide array of physical, artistic and educational opportunities available, depending on your child’s interests.  As always, the Norfolk Library has a jam-packed […]

Anne Frieze Ordained as Chaplain in the United Church of Christ

By Ruth Melville On Sunday, June 2, Anne Frieze was ordained in the United Church of Christ (UCC) as a hospital chaplain and installed at Trinity Health Of New England. For the past three years, Frieze has been providing hospice and spiritual care through Mercy Medical, based in Springfield, Mass., and part of Trinity Health. […]

WIN, WIN for Norfolk

Town festival celebrates its fourth year By Doug McDevitt Most great ideas come when we least expect them. In a dream or a daydream, during a conversation with a better half when we should be listening, or while running simple errands, it sometimes can’t be helped, they just pop in there. Well, one day in […]