• Norfolk Crowds Return to New Farmers Market

    By Andra Moss The crowd was large, loud and loving it at July’s Northwest Farm to Fork farmers market, held under the pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. “We were very pleased with the turnout, with approximately 230 customers coming through and 16 food and farm vendors,” says Lisa Auclair, a co-founder, with Devin Grosso and […]

  • Friday Night on the Green Celebrates America’s 250th

    July 3 was a picture-perfect night for the community-wide event cel-ebrating America’s Independence. Following a quick parade, picnickers enjoyed burgers and ice cream while judges dug into the entries in the pie baking contest. First Selectman Hen-ry Tirrell moved seamlessly from his welcome speech to the dunk tank, and a few folks, like Pete Sanders […]

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS Laurene Mary Wallace

    Laurene Mary Wallace, 77, of Colebrook passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Friday, July 10, 2026. Laurene was born on April 28, 1949, in Bridgeport, the last of four children born to the late Lawrence and Irene (Misencik) Firmender of Stratford. A retired registered nurse, Laurene’s career in nursing and cardiac rehabilitation […]

  • Norfolk Remembers Sally Sterling Ellis Quale

    Sally Sterling Ellis Quale, of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Bronxville, N.Y., died unexpectedly of heart failure on July 7 at the age of 87. Sally will be remembered for her deep commitment to her family and communities and for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, creativity … and, of course, for her beautiful smile […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This charming house, still standing on the west side of Litchfield Rd., was built in 1905 for Richmond Paine, the newly appointed conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU). Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel engaged the architect Ehrick Rossiter to design the house for Paine as well as the Music Shed for performances by […]

  • Norfolk’s Newest Neighborhood Puts Down Roots

    Haystack Woods lauded as a “model for the state” By Joe Kelly Norfolk’s newest neighborhood, the Haystack Woods affordable housing development, has officially come to life. A year ago, the 39-acre location—a former gravel pit off Old Colony Road—was little more than a muddy building site. Now construction of the 10, two- and three-bedroom homes […]

  • Winsted Church Auctions Tiffany Window for $1.25 Million

    Sale highlights women’s role in Tiffany designs By Joe Kelly When medieval architects found ways to build taller cathedrals, the techniques they developed also made possible the enormous stained-glass windows that we so enjoy today, such as at Chartres and Sainte-Chapelle in France and Canterbury Cathedral in England. American-made stained glass is more recent, dating […]

  • A Revolutionary Year

    1776 Norfolk explored in summer exhibition By Andra Moss Communities across the country are looking back with wonder at 1776, the year that 13 British colonies initiated a revolution that, against astonishing odds, led to the birth of an independent republic. In Norfolk, two curators have combed the Norfolk Historical Society’s (NHS) collection for colonial-era […]

  • SUMMER MUSIC: Familiar Quartets, New Composers at Yale Chamber Festival

    By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, running from July 3 until Aug. 22, will present an exciting season of classical, innovative and international music. This summer, the Brentano Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Ying Quartet and the Horszowski Trio are among those who will perform during weekend concerts and serve as artist-in-residence mentors to the […]

  • Botelle Students Move Up

    By Avice Meehan Four sixth graders bid farewell to Botelle Elementary School at a laughter-filled, but occasionally serious, ceremony on June 16 that was attended by family, friends and town officials. First Selectmen Henry Tirrell, a Botelle graduate whose mother and aunt taught at the school for many years, reminded the students that they would […]

  • Norfolk Rail-Trail Project Pedals Forward

    By Jude Mead After more than a decade of planning, permiting and redesign work, Norfolk’s long-await-ed Rails-to-Trails initiative has reached a major milestone, bringing the community closer to the creation of a new multi-use recreational trail along a historic railroad corridor. The project is the North Brook Trail, a planned three-quarter-mile ADA-accessi-ble pathway that will […]

  • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Budgets, Beetles, Nips and More

    By Avice Meehan State Rep. Maria Horn came prepared to share details about the Connecticut budget (she is co-chair of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee) and the progress that has been made toward paying down the state’s unfunded pension liability, increasing the rainy day fund (now up to $18 billion) and allocating more state funds […]

Articles

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 […]

Colebrook Weaver and Activist Receives Creative Arts Award

Maltz honored for her work with the Norfolk Makerspace  Text by Kelly Kandra HughesPhoto by Sue Williams Colebrook’s Alesia Maltz has been a weaver since childhood. Her love of fiber began when her Aunt Bea told her she didn’t have to spend her weekly allowance on Barbie clothes at the store, she could knit them […]

Norfolk Farm Talks Turkey

Text by Jeremy WithnellPhoto by Bruce Frisch For many household cooks, Thanksgiving means finding room in the refrigerator to accommodate 20 pounds of poultry for a couple of days in order to properly defrost it. For those lucky enough to be in the know about Lost Ruby Farm in south Norfolk, there’s a better way. […]