• GoodWorks Shares Plans for Infinity Hall

    Restaurant, more concerts coming to historic venue By Avice Meehan When Dave Rosenfeld walked onto the starlit stage at Infinity Hall, many of the more than 200 people gathered to hear what he had to say, were unsure about what to expect. The co-founder of GoodWorks Entertainment, which acquired the green Victorian gem of a […]

  • A New Tradition Begins for Litchfield County Choral Union

    Generations come together to refresh a century-long legacy By Jude Mead Music from singers young and old filled Battell Chapel on May 22 as the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) joined the Torrington High School choir for a collaborative concert aimed at connecting generations of choral musicians. Organizers hope the successful event will become an […]

  • Hanging Up the Whistle

    Coach Sebach is retiring from Regional 7 By Rex Crippen Doug Sebach, Boys’ Varsity Head Basketball Coach at Northwestern Regional 7 High School (NW7), announced his retirement earlier this season. Sebach, who had served Northwestern as a coach for 22 years, ended his tenure with 332 career wins, six regular season Berkshire League championships and […]

  • Botelle Student Receives Student Leadership Award

    By Kevin D. Case The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents’ Student Leadership Award is an annual honor presented by the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS). It recognizes outstanding middle school students who demonstrate exemplary leadership, academic prowess, and a strong commitment to community service. Each local school district’s Superintendent selects a student […]

  • A Centennial Celebration of Long-Term Forest Research

    Aton Forest has a long history in Norfolk By Carol Goodstein Along with a growing population of moose, black bear and red fox, Norfolk’s roughly 1,500 residents have plenty of room to roam. Great Mountain Forest, The Norfolk Land Trust, state-owned lands and public parks welcome hikers, bikers, skiers, strollers and even, to a limited […]

  • Norfolk Comes Together to Remember Those Who Gave All

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS

    Peter Brown Peter Brown, 70 years old, of East Canaan passed away Sunday, May 17, 2026, in his home. He was the loving husband of Sandra Brown. Peter was born on December 27, 1955, at Sharon Hospital to Abraham “Bucky” Brown and Rosalie Freund Brown. He graduated from Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Northwestern […]

  • NOTES FROM A FRENCH KITCHEN

    Rhubarb Heralds the Spring By Marie-Christine Perry The first edible in my garden is usually rhubarb, followed quickly by asparagus, both valued in my kitchen—fresh and preserved! Beyond the celebrated strawberry rhubarb pie, I like rhubarb in many guises: in compote, jam, chutney and cake, but also in unexpected savory dishes, where its acidity is […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Designed by architect Alfredo Taylor and still standing at the end of Golf Drive, this pavilion was built on the nine-hole Norfolk Downs as a gathering place for golfers. The large central room with cobblestone walls and a massive stone fireplace once had glazed windows on the north side, while the terrace on the south […]

  • Inside the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art

    A season of student and community activity By Patricia Platt For over 80 years, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust has endowed Yale University’s summer music and art programs in Norfolk. The renowned Yale Norfolk School of Art opens the 2026 summer season on May 23, before the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival begins, and shares its […]

  • Trio Revives Local Farmers Market

    Northwest Farm to Fork launches at Norbrook By Andra Moss When Devin Grosso and her husband moved to Norfolk in 2024, she was disappointed to learn that the town’s farmers market had permanently closed just the year before. However, a chance meeting at the Botelle School garden with Lisa Auclair, who had managed the Norfolk […]

  • Tracing the Dudley Legacy

    Family history and the truth behind Dudleytown By Jude Mead The Dudley name, with roots stretching back to 14th-century England, carries with it a long and often dramatic history. For Susan Dudley of Winchester, that legacy has been a lifelong source of curiosity—particularly her family’s connection to Dudleytown, the long-abandoned settlement hidden within Cornwall’s Dark […]

Articles

Coronavirus: How We Got Here

Text by Richard KessinPhotos Courtesy of the CDC The March 12 issue of Nature has two dense scientific articles on the discovery of SARS-CoV-2. Though most of the data were already available, the narrative, all in one place, is gripping. The first article describes a 41-year-old man who was seen in The Central Hospital of […]

Local Resident Pursues a College Education Abroad

Text by Allysia RuggieroPhoto by Savage Frieze Many Norfolk residents have had the opportunity to pursue higher education and follow a winding path toward their futures. For 23-year-old Kaelin Hester, a Norfolk native, higher education has led to astonishing experiences and travel. She is currently completing an anthropology degree completely in Spanish at the oldest […]

Technology Works Hand in Hand with Tried-and-True

Congregating in Norfolk in the time of COVID-19 By Christopher Sinclair To congregate means to come together in a group or an assembly, particularly in large numbers, derived in part from the Latin root grex, meaning crowd or flock. While the physical act of congregating is currently and foreseeably off the table, the power and […]

History Repeats Itself in Norfolk Quilt

Community quilt to be auctioned a second time Text and Photo by Jude Mead Quilting and quilting circles have a long history in Norfolk. Twenty-five years ago a group of 19 women from the community gathered together and made a quilt as a fund-raiser for the Church of Christ Congregational. The quilt was raffled off, […]

Norfolk Joins Fight to Bring Back Railroad Service to New York City

The Train Campaign By Sue Frisch and Colleen Gundlach The town of Norfolk is isolated by lack of affordable long-distance public transportation within a reasonable distance (up to a half-hour drive). People who want to go to New York City must either drive an hour to get on the train at Wassaic or pay $45 […]

All Kinds of Hoopla Going on at the Library — and Kanopy, Too

EMedia services offer relief from stresses of social distancing By Kelly Kandra Hughes Even though the Norfolk Library is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, your Norfolk Library card can still give you access to thousands of eBooks, movies, television shows, and more. This access is thanks to the library’s recent addition of two new media […]

Boards of Education and Finance Join Forces on Botelle Committee

Goal is to improve quality of education by improving communication by Ruth Melville After years of wrangling over the annual budget for Botelle School, Michael Sconyers, chairman of the Board of Finance, felt it was time to try something new. “It’s no secret,” he says, “that there’s been a lot of tension between the Board […]

Maple Syrup Makers Experience Unusually Early Sap Season

Text by Jude MeadPhoto by Winter Mead The Farmer’s Almanac, a periodical that has provided long-range weather predictions since 1818, was right again. It predicted above normal temperatures in our area this winter, and most maple syrup producers agree that it was spot on. Many producers took advantage of the warm weather. I was one […]

Addressing Norfolk’s Diverse Housing Needs

Creating a mix of rental units to grow the community by Allysia Ruggiero On Monday Feb. 3 at 6 p.m., over 30 people weathered the cold evening air so that they could be in attendance at the Norfolk Hub to hear Jocelyn Ayer, community and economic development director of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments […]

Inn Owner Withdraws Zoning Request for Bakery and Cafe

Bows to neighbors’ objections Text and Photo by Colleen Gundlach The Gilded Age home located just south of the Norfolk’s Village Green has been a local landmark, where patrons have been served food for more than 60 years. When Felix and Clara Klauer purchased it from Erastus Johnson in 1951, the Mountain View Inn welcomed […]

Tree Cutting at Haystack Mountain State Park

Text and Photo by David Beers A century ago, the Stoeckel family’s generosity provided to the state both the land and the tower that now make Haystack Mountain State Park the icon of Norfolk. Back then, most of the forest on the lower slopes of the mountain was young saplings. That fledgling forest is now […]

Making a Safe Space for Lakota Children in South Dakota

Text by Tina OlsenPhoto by Erick Olsen In the summer of 2021, a group from Norfolk’s Church of Christ UCC will travel to the Cheyenne River Reservation to spend a week with the Lakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota. From June 20 to 26, participants will work with the organization Simply Smiles to serve the […]