• Proposed Manor House Expansion Draws Large Crowd

    Many differing views on effect of change in town center By Susan MacEachron Norfolk residents filled the Botelle School Hall of Flags on a very cold evening on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to attend the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) public hearing regarding a modification to the special permit granted in 1996 to the property known as […]

  • From All Angels

    Throughout the month of February, Garet&Co will be returning to Norfolk to present their third annual performance in the Battell Chapel, where each piece will be set in the round.  In this presentation, titled “From All Angles”, the audience will witness the translation of three of the works presented at their fall show.   “Can’t Keep […]

  • Norfolk Then

    Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, Librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an electrical engineer, who would be hired in 1902 to manage London’s underground railway system, converting it from steam to electricity. The Spoffords engaged the architect […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

Changes On the Way for the Children’s Room at the Library

Facelift will feature reading nook and star-bright lighting By Colleen GundlachPhoto by Savage Frieze Generations of Norfolk children have spent many happy hours in the Children’s Room at the Norfolk Library. Originally located in what is now the Reference Room, the Children’s Room moved to its current location about 30 years ago when the beautiful […]

Nocturnal Animals Enliven the Norfolk Darkness

By Jude MeadPhoto by Fred Knight Norfolk is considered a quiet town during the cold winter months, leading to the mistaken impression that the village rolls up its streets at dusk and slumbers until dawn. Actually that is the time when the exciting world of darkness comes alive and the stillness of the night is […]

November and December Weather and a Yearly Summary for 2018

Lots of Warmth and Precipitation By Russell Russ The year of 2018 was a wet one, and the months of November and December were also above normal for precipitation with both months adding to our yearly surplus. The previous three years were all below normal for precipitation, but 2018 ended that—and then some. The conclusion […]

From the Fire Department to the Farmers Market, Norfolk Always Needs Volunteers

By Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Jon Barbagallo New Year’s may have come and gone, but many of us are still grappling with our New Year’s resolutions. For anyone in Norfolk who included give back to the community as a resolution in 2019, we have good news for you—there are many ways you can help right […]

A Very Unusual Election Day Indeed

Huge turnout for mid-terms   By Colleen Gundlach It was a mid-term election like none other in the collective memories of Norfolk residents. Most mid-term voters are apathetic, resulting in, as a general rule, a low turnout. That was not the case with this November’s race. A whopping 70 percent of the town’s voters came […]

Collaborative Workshop on Downtown Design Holds Final Meeting

Suggestions will be added to new town plan By Wiley Wood Photo by Bruce Frisch As winter closes in, most Norfolkians will limit their interactions with the town center to the few yards of sidewalk between their parked car and the post office or library. In the summertime, a person might take a more expansive […]

Beckley Furnace Stands as a Reminder of Industrial Days in Northwest Corner

Area was rich in iron ore deposits   By Colleen Gundlach Have you ever hiked Canaan Mountain in the East Canaan area and discovered mounds of beautiful, glassy black rocks and wondered where they originated and why there are so many of them? They are slag—a very unappealing name for a truly lovely rock—and their […]

Norfolk’s Fire and Ambulance Volunteers Logged More than 31,000 Hours This Year

Members dedicated to keeping the town safe   By Jonathan Barbagallo As we approach the end of 2018, the emergency services in town have had another busy year, at least by Norfolk standards. House and building fires, jackknifed tractor trailers, mutual aid responses to Brookfield, overdose resuscitations, cardiac arrests, and injured hikers are just some […]

Greenwoods Counseling Referrals, Providing Mental Health Services for Over 25 Years

Health and Welfare in the Town Budget   By Ruth Melville Greenwoods Counseling Referrals, Inc., has been in operation since 1992, working to provide high quality and affordable mental health care to the people of Litchfield County. The organization does exactly what its name suggests. Once a potential client has contacted them for help, Greenwoods […]

Washington’s Trade War and Norfolk’s Economy

  By David Beers On the news there is much talk about trade wars and tariffs, and if you are like me, it all seems far away. But it is not far away, and tariffs are directly affecting livelihoods in Norfolk right now. A bit of background is in order here. A tariff is a […]

Haystack Book Talks

Ten Authors, Two Days, Five Conversations   By Christopher Sinclair As people streamed into Battell Chapel beneath the autumnal glow of the Armstrong stained glass windows, they might easily have imagined themselves in a New Haven lecture hall rather than on the village green in Norfolk. The chapel, which hosted four of the five sessions […]

Whiting Mills: An Old Sock Factory Stuffed With Surprises

  By Sally Quale Inside a former mill building tucked behind the community college in Winsted there is a warren of artists’ spaces, craftsmen’s workshops and miscellaneous businesses. This is Whiting Mills. On any given day, a ceramicist might be glazing her pots for the kiln, a painter scrubbing his canvases, a weaver laying out […]