• 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 Haystack Book Talks Festival Returns for a Second Year

A new lineup of writers in conversation By Marie-Christine Perry This summer saw Haystack Book Talks bring three stand-alone talks to the Norfolk Library: Byron Kim and Lisa Sigal, the new directors of the Yale Summer School of Art, talked with Nell Painter, the distinguished American historian and author of “Old in Art School: A […]

Little Red Barn Brewers Is Part of the Renaissance of Winsted

By Jeremy WithnellPhoto by Bruce Frisch  Nils Johnson, co-owner of Little Red Barn Brewers in Winsted, speaks of his brewery in much the same way a parent does of their infant child, with pride and mild exhaustion. “Might be nice to get some more sleep one of these days,” he confides. Still, through the entire […]

New Year, New Beginnings at Botelle

By Virginia Coleman-PriscoPhoto, of some of Botelle School’s new staffers this year (from left: Melissa Asselin, Winter Thorne-Kaunelis, Erin Dubecky, Lauren Montagna, Tyler Yelsits, Mary Krusch, Erica McCleary and Shana Bazelmans), by Virginia Coleman-Prisco As summer winds down, Botelle Elementary School is already buzzing with activity in preparation for the new school year. The Botelle […]

Norfolk Library Presents the First Greenwoods Puppet Festival Weekend

Renowned puppeteers to bring their magic and creativity to town By Eileen FitzgibbonsPhoto, of Alex and Olmsted (Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas) with their puppet Milo the Magnificent, by Sean Dennie This month, by the light of the Harvest Moon, puppets tiny and mighty will find their way to the first Greenwoods Puppet Festival. […]

Weekend in Norfolk 2019

Propelling Norfolk into the 21st Century

Charging station for electric cars installed at Town Hall Text and photo by David Beers Last summer, an overnight visitor to town inquired at Town Hall about charging their electric car and found out that the closest chargers were in Winsted and North Canaan. This prompted a conversation in the town’s newly revitalized town Energy […]

Library’s Annual Sale Builds a Community Around Books

By Ruth MelvillePhoto by Savage Frieze On Aug. 24 and 25, the Norfolk Library held its 43rd annual book sale. Thanks to the donation of about 13,000 books, and countless hours of labor by the Library Associates and their friends, approximately $14,000 dollars were raised to support the activities of the library. Equally important, a […]

Tour the Forest, and Learn a Little about Norfolk

By Doug McDevitt Norfolk may not have notable historical events, such as Stratford, say, which saw the first colony in Connecticut, or Danbury, which was the target of a British invasion and where General Israel Putnam’s army endured a harsh winter that became known as Connecticut’s Valley Forge. No, our town in the past was […]

Norfolk Artists and Friends Features Nine Guest Artists

NAF greets second decade with a gala reception By Christopher Sinclair As the Norfolk Artists and Friends (NAF) Annual Exhibition enters its second decade of existence with its eleventh installment, it welcomes the diverse and dynamic talents of nine guest artists working across a broad spectrum of mediums. The Battell Stoeckel Gallery, affectionately known to […]

Treads & Trails Bike Build Event Coming to Botelle

Bringing exercise and the great outdoors to Norfolk students By Kelly Kandra Hughes Thanks to a serendipitous encounter at Norfstroms salvage shed, approximately 40 Botelle Elementary students will receive new bikes this year. Sara Hannafin, Director of Engagement at Can’d Aid, had stopped by the transfer station in June when she noticed Norfstroms on her […]

Greenwoods Puppet Festival Comes to Norfolk

From Inspiration to Reality  By Jude Mead For the first time ever, Norfolk residents and visitors will celebrate the craft and magic of contemporary puppetry with some of the best-known artists in the field when the Greenwoods Puppet Festival comes to town. The festival will run from September 13 through 15.  So how does a […]

Seacocks Opened on Thomson Canoe Works

Schuyler Thomson aims to retire from his craft By Doug McDevitt  The year was 1969. The Apollo 11 crew landed on the moon, 400,000 people descended on the sleepy hamlet of Bethel, New York for Woodstock, and Schuyler Thomson embarked on a journey that would eventually lead him to Norfolk.   1969 was also the year […]