• Work to Resume on Route 44 and New Firehouse

    Warmer temps ensure concrete quality By Avice Meehan Two significant Norfolk projects that were put on hold because of below-zero temperatures this winter are expected to resume by mid-March: Reconstruction of two retaining walls along Route 44 and the construction of a new firehouse for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department. Engineers for the state Department […]

  • Richard Byrne Retires as Active Firefighter

    After 58 years, veteran status By Joseph Kelly He was a young Navy veteran, about to be married and ready to start a family in his hometown when, in February 1968, his older brother convinced him to join the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD). For Richard Byrne it was the start of an association that […]

  • Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus Will Benefit Local Food Banks

    Three Grammy nominees to perform at Infinity Hall By Colleen Gundlach On April 11, Infinity Hall will be the setting for Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus, a concert that will benefit Stock the Shelves, an outreach of United Way of Northwestern Connecticut. The Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus will feature three Grammy nominees […]

  • Rom-Com Curling Film Released With Olympics

    To get the ice just right, filmmakers tapped Norfolk expertise By Joseph Kelly The underdogs who battle the odds—the washed-up boxer, the outclassed football team, the aging baseball slugger with one last homerun in him—are all Hollywood standbys. Ronald Reagan may be remembered as much for “win one for the Gipper” as he is for […]

  • How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning

    By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]

  • Choral Singing Meets Bluegrass

    LCCU welcomes all ages to sing new styles By Andra Moss The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) is entering its 127th concert year with decidedly youthful energy. Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Gabriel Löfvall, the LCCU will convene a youth choral festival in Norfolk in late spring; offer a series of choral seminars […]

  • Winter Weekend In Norfolk

    It was a cold and blustery weekend, but that didn’t stop the hardy from coming out on Feb. 21 and 22 for Winter WIN, the weekend for enjoying all things Norfolk in the winter season. The photos below show a story of a town that came together to strut its stuff for the world to […]

  • From Freeze to Flow: Extreme Temps and the Maple Syrup Season

    Reaching that ideal mix of natural conditions By Jude Mead The extreme cold and heavy snowfall this season has raised some concern among maple syrup producers. Reports of loud, cracking noises in wooded areas have set the stage for a phenomenon called “frost cracking.” During these periods of intense cold, the water and sap inside […]

  • Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale

    With Jude Mead at the guitar and with great enthusiasm, members of the Isabella Eldridge Club defied a threatened winter storm and entered Battell Chapel on Feb. 10 for a memorable performance of an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” a daft 1960s television comedy. Despite the best efforts of the Professor (played by Marinell Crippen, left) […]

  • Cook For Goodness Sake

    America The Melting Pot By Linda Garrettson In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, it seems appropriate to dedicate my food column this year to America, who we are, and what we eat. Get ready for some history lessons, and perhaps surprises that might enlighten you to what we call American […]

  • Be Careful, Very Careful

    An expert team from the Glass Source Stained Glass Studio spent nearly six hours in cold mid-January weather care-fully removing a cathedral stained glass window from Battell Chapel at the United Church of Christ before transporting it to their studio in Seymour for restoration. In this photo, Michael Skrtic balances one section of the window […]

  • The Week that Was

    First, frigid temperatures forced the relocation of Norfolk’s valiant Post Office staff to Winsted because of scheduled asbestos remediation, leaving box holders temporarily puzzled. Then, the big snow arrived on Jan. 25 and 26. Estimates vary widely: Russell Russ reported the official tally at the Great Mountain Forest weather station as 15.2 inches, but others […]

Articles

A Knack for Finding Family

Text and Photo by Kelly Kandra Hughes Imagine finding out you’re related to a witch who was accused at the time of the Salem witch trials. Or that your family heritage links back to Benjamin Franklin. Both discoveries happened during research by genealogy expert and history enthusiast Laurie Foulke-Green. In the former instance, Foulke-Green discovered […]

Beaver and Humans, Can We All Just Get Along?

Beaver Liberation Text by Dave BeersPhoto by Roger Johnson On Saturday, Dec. 28, at around 4 p.m., Roger Johnson and Katka Hannelova were walking their dog on top of the southerly Wood Creek dry dam when they noticed splashing and thrashing in the dam outlet plunge pool. They headed down to investigate and found a […]

The Secrets to a Long and Happy Marriage, as Told by Eve and John Thew

Text and Photo by Kelly Kandra Hughes I’m sitting with Eve and John Thew on their screened-in porch. An electric heater is keeping us toasty warm during these subfreezing January temperatures. John is sitting across from me, and Eve is sitting in a chair to my left. “I’ll tell you the secret of marriage,” John […]

Local Author Writes a Guide to Publishing for Aspiring Writers

NN Book Review Text by Michael SelleckPhoto by Clinton J. Sosna I spent my entire career in the book business, first as a bookseller for eight years followed by 35 years in publishing, and even today I coproduce a podcast, with bookseller Roxanne Coady, called “Just the Right Book.” Inevitably, I am asked on a […]

Things to Do in the Winter Dark

Text by Ruth MelvillePhoto by Doug McDevitt Norfolk quiets down in the winter months after the holidays are over, especially once the sun goes down, but several town organizations have activities planned to get people to put on their parkas and get out after dark. The Norfolk Library is offering a Thursday night classic film […]

What’s New on the Books in Connecticut in the New Year

Laws enacted in 2019 and now in effect By Susannah Wood A number of newly minted laws that may be important to Norfolk residents came into effect in 2019 or on Jan. 1 of this year. The following list is by no means exhaustive, however. Also, since space does not allow for an in-depth discussion […]

Celebrating WINter in Norfolk

Two-Day Winter Festival Returns for Third Year Text by Doug McDevittPhoto by Bruce Frisch Fall has a bittersweet flavor to it. It’s beautiful, the weather is perfect, but we know that cold days with fewer hours of daylight will soon be upon us. Once the holidays are over, our lives settle down, and after a […]

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 […]