• 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 […]

  • A Look Into Norfolk’s Past

    Exhibit Explores Pupin’s Haven of Happiness on Westside Road By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Historical Museum graces Norfolk’s village green with the reserve and understated elegance of a New Englander well worth getting to know. Visitors who step inside will find exhibits that tell the stories of the town’s past, often with intriguing ties to […]

  • Norfolk Past and Present

    The Summer Chapel Eases Gracefully Into Its 130 Years By Elizabeth Bailey Ayreslea Rowland Denny began attending services at The Church of the Transfiguration in Norfolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. A New Yorker, she was a student at the Chapin School in New York City, but her family had been […]

  • Church Steeple Shines Once Again

    Local dignitaries and friends of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational gathered on Saturday, May 25, to formally celebrate the completion of the steeple restoration project. The Rev. Erick Olsen thanked the community for supporting the years-long effort and welcomed everyone to enjoy a splendid cake featuring an image of the steeple.

  • Making the Native… Personal

    Cheryl Heller Builds a Wild Garden in Norfolk By Joe Kelly Gardens are best when they’re personal, argued the late Fred McGourty, who remains Norfolk’s best- known plantsmen. McGourty’s 1989 book, “The Perennial Gardener,” recounts the gardens he and his wife, Mary Ann, created at Hillside, their home near Dennis Hill State Park. Were he […]

  • This Old Norfolk House

    Stevens House By Joe KellyWhen our Puritan forebears arrived on these shores in the early 1600s, they were no doubt surprised todiscover how the traditional thatched roof cottages they knew from back home were no match for thewind and cold of a typical New England winter. But it would have likely surprised them even more […]

  • Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

    By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

  • Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

    By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the late 19th century, the arrival of every train at the depot on Station Place was widely anticipated.There were freight trains, milk trains and passenger trains unloading throngs of summer visitors. Theattractive station pictured here was built in 1898, replacing an earlier modest structure. Constructed ofnative granite, it was designed by Hill & Turner, […]

  • Focus on New Firehouse shifts to funding

    Costs likely to rise beyond initial $5 million estimate By Joe Kelly After months of sometimes contentious public hearings, plans for a new Norfolk firehouse are nearing the end of the wetlands/zoning part of the approval process and heading into a decisive new phase: finding the money to pay for it all. The Planning & […]

Articles

For Emily Irwin, Home = Love

New homewares shop opens in downtown Norfolk    By Janet Gokay Mead So you want to open a shop that sells things for the home—thoughtful, lovely things. You live in New Marlborough, in the Berkshires, where you run a very successful restaurant, Cantina 229, with your husband. You have three kids: two, nine, and 14-years […]

Michelle Childs Teaches Pilates and Nia Classes in a Historic Setting

  By David Beers Parts one and two of this series on fitness classes in Norfolk highlighted the classes offered at Battell Chapel, but that is not the only venue in town offering fitness classes. There are also group fitness classes almost every day in a lovingly restored carriage barn just south of town. Located […]

Torrington Coffee House Serves Up Coffee, Tea and “Good Company”

  By Julie Scharnberg It’s just the place you’re looking for when you want a coffee or tea break. Located in a charming, sage-green building at 33 Franklin Street in Torrington along the Naugatuck River across from Danielle Mailer’s colorful “FishTales” mural, Good Company Coffee House is cozy and comfortable and smells heavenly when you […]

KidsPlay Children’s Museum: A Children’s Wonderland to Learn and Play

  By Dijana Vajushi As soon as you enter the KidsPlay Children’s Museum at 61 Main Street in Torrington, you can’t help but feel as though you’ve just entered a children’s wonderland. The museum operates over 11,000 square feet of interactive, hands-on exhibits where children ages one to 10 can practice pre-academic skills, build curiosity […]

Spirit Ballooning in Canaan Takes Passengers on an Unforgettable Ride

  By Chris Sinclair In the minds of most people, hot air balloons exist only on postcards and in children’s books, and going up in a one seems about as likely as saddling up a unicorn and going for a ride. As it turns out, going up in a hot air balloon is a far […]

Annual Literary Festival at NCCC Celebrates National Poetry Month

By Tom Hodgkin   April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. —T. S. Eliot Echoing T. S. Eliot’s claims, April may be the cruelest month—the month of promising rain and sudden snow, of spring warmth and winter cold, of hopeful […]

New Wind Farm on Norfolk Land Under Discussion

Balancing economic, esthetic and environmental concerns   By Wiley Wood Discussions are reportedly underway between a Norfolk landowner and BNE Energy, Inc., a company that built two wind turbines in Colebrook, to erect as many as four more turbines along Route 44. At their recent monthly meeting, the Northwestern Connecticut Sportsmen’s Association heard a presentation […]

Six New Rental Apartments Near Completion in Downtown Norfolk

Some will be rented at below-market rates   By Wiley Wood The imposing two-story Victorian on the corner of Shepard Road and Route 44 dates to 1860, but with its new roof, new porches front and back, and new color scheme—muted gray with white trim—it looks freshly built. “It has good bones,” says Lou Barbagallo, […]

From Sea to Shining Sea – And Back Again

Mother and son team up for cross-country adventure   By Colleen Gundlach Many people dream of jumping in the car and driving across the country, but few take the leap and actually do it. Kate Wilcox and her 21-year-old son Larry are the exception. Last October they packed a tent, some provisions and their dog, […]

Local Documentary Wants to Put a Human Face on the Opioid Epidemic

Film presents a personal understanding of addiction and recovery   By Ruth Melville Anyone who pays attention to the news knows that the country is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. The state of Connecticut has been hard hit, and the northwest corner is not immune. According to a recent report, “Beneath the Surface: […]

Wellness Classes in Battell Chapel Promote Mental and Physical Health

Exercising with Friends   By David Beers Part one of this article, in the March issue of Norfolk Now, highlighted the Chapel fitness classes that are relaxing and rejuvenating. Now it is time to focus on the more vigorous exercise classes. Each class is $15 per class with a $5 discount if paid in advance. […]

Brian Ohler and Maria Horn to Vie for State House

It’s still seven months until the November elections, but northwest corner residents already have choices to make. In the 64th district race, incumbent State Representative Brian Ohler has been challenged for his seat by Salisbury resident Maria Horn, who announced her candidacy at Geer Village in March. Horn, a Democrat, says she “grew up in […]