• 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

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 […]

Norfolk’s April 2018 Weather

Seventh Wettest April on Record  By Russell Russ  April is the transition month between winter and spring. It can have traits of both winter and spring, and that is what Norfolk saw this April. It was warm enough early in the month to end the maple syrup season in the Norfolk area, but the remainder […]

Closely Watched Budget Approved at Town Meeting

Botelle parents protest flatfunding of school By Wiley WoodPhotos by Bruce Frisch A large crowd of about 75 Norfolk residents gathered for the annual town meeting on May 13 in the Hall of Flags at Botelle School. Although normally a humdrum gathering at which the budget is passed with little comment, there has been more […]

Joe Hurst: “We Need to Pull Together”

By Gordon AndersonPhoto by Savage Frieze Joe Hurst lives on Mountain Road, in the last house before the road is absorbed into Great Mountain Forest. He says that every day when he turns the corner heading home, he is overcome with gratitude and delight at the miraculous quality of his life, or as he puts […]

Asphalt Plant in Canaan Raises Concerns

Outcome of lawsuit still uncertain By Colleen Gundlach The prospect of a new asphalt production facility in East Canaan has created controversy, pitting Ben Metcalf, whose colorful ads for driveway repair sprinkle the North Canaan landscape, against a group of concerned citizens and neighbors. Metcalf is currently suing the town of Canaan for turning away […]

Silent No More

Local photographer Christopher Little publishes his first thriller By Courtney Maum Affable, witty and generous with his time, local photographer and EMT volunteer Christopher Little is the last person Norfolkians would call “frightening,” and yet his new book, “Ever So Silent,” is one scary ride. The first in a series, this spiffy murder mystery focuses […]