• 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 […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

New Teachers Bring Renewed Energy and Broad Experience to Botelle School

  By Ann DeCerbo Three new faces greeted Botelle’s elementary school students this year—fourth grade teacher Nichole Pitruzello, music teacher Sandra Kleisner, and school nurse Donna Pequignot. These women bring a wide range of experiences and perspectives to the school. A recent UConn graduate, Nichole Pitruzello is a bubbly, enthusiastic new teacher certified in elementary […]

Is a Maker Lab in Norfolk’s Future?

Local group explores the possibility on a field trip to New Haven   By Karen Rossi In New Haven there is a special scent to the air in early fall. It’s born from the rustling leaves of the tree-lined streets, the cool nights and hot days mixed with a bit of salt air rolling in […]

Norfolk’s Club Activities: The Shooting Sports

  By David Beers If you head past the Norfolk landfill toward Winsted on Route 44, you may have noticed a few red buildings, a gated gravel road and some archery targets in the woods across from the Rock Pile Driving Range. What you are seeing as you whiz by is just the tip of […]

The Paperback Revolution That Started in Norfolk

How Modern Age Books changed the way Americans read   By Lucy Mookerjee Modern Age Books, Inc., founded by Norfolk’s Richard S. Childs in 1936, was the first large-scale publisher to produce paperback books in the United States. Modern Age released progressive paperbacks that were inexpensive and accessible to the general public. On display at the […]

Restaurant Roundup: New and Ethnic Eateries

The Norfolk area offers a wide array of choices   By Ruth Melville Although I love the many advantages of living in such a beautiful place as Norfolk, one thing I miss about city life is the wide choice of foreign cuisines on offer. So I was delighted to discover that there are several new […]

Catching the Annual Fall Migration of Hawks

  By Jude Mead Witnessing firsthand the sight of hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of hawks flying overhead during their fall migration to South America is an extraordinary experience. Those that have seen this spectacle say it is the event of a lifetime, and Ayrslea Denny can attest to that. Denny has been […]

For Those With Eyes As Big As Moons, Botelle Adds A Rainbow

Artist and children together make a winning combination   By Clinton J. Sosna Botelle School’s littlest academic achievers were often denied the pleasures of artistic appreciation while navigating the halls of the school, simply because the display cases holding the artistic works of the school’s students were set too high for even the most excellently […]

Wide Range of Health Services Available to Norfolk Residents—With or Without Coverage

Flu clinic to be held Oct. 17   By Ruth Melville In addition to the regular items in the town budget—road repair, school funding, the fire department, pensions—the Town of Norfolk also provides funds to outside organizations that provide services to the town. One of these organizations is Foothills Visiting Nurse & Home Care (commonly […]

Sharon Hospital Announces Intention to Close Its Birthing Suites

Local opposition forms “Save Sharon Hospital” group   By Stephen Melville In July of 2017 the state of Connecticut officially approved the sale of Sharon Hospital to Health Quest Systems, returning the hospital to nonprofit status after 15 years as part of the for-profit Essent Healthcare of Connecticut. The purchase was supported by a $3 […]

NHCOG Releases Interactive Regional Northwest Connecticut Trail Map

A New Unified 21-Town Resource   By Billy Gridley As Robert Frost said, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” A new mapping resource in the Northwest Corner has the potential to make all the difference. It already provides basic information […]

Magnificent Monarch Butterflies Making a Slow Comeback

  By Jude Mead A memorable part of my childhood was spotting a monarch butterfly in late summer. The monarch is one of nature’s most spectacular species with its large size and recognizable bright orange and black markings. Though once common in most gardens, today the monarch has become a rare sighting. According to Jane […]

Buddy Program at Regional 7 Helps Incoming Students Feel Welcome

  By Charlotte McDevitt Moving can be hard, especially for kids moving to a different school, with new peers and teachers. Last year, Northwestern Regional 7 started a program to make the incoming seventh graders’ transitions a little easier. The program is called WEB, which stands for Where Everybody Belongs. WEB leaders are chosen from […]