• 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

Monday Night Is Game Night at the Country Store

By Ruth Melville Tired of sitting around the living room with family members all absorbed in their smart phones or tablets? Ryan Craig at the Berkshire Country Store has a suggestion to liven up your Monday nights: board games! “I noticed with my own family,” Craig says, “that we’re so busy all the time, rushing […]

Ripper Rides Again at Historical Society

The Anderson family rides the Ripper, a homemade toboggan, at an exhibit showcasing winter in Norfolk, currently on view at the Norfolk Historical Society.

New Group Formed to Discuss Ideas for Downtown

Riiska convenes stakeholders   By Wiley Wood Norfolk’s downtown is going through something of a renaissance. The Berkshire Country Store recently celebrated its first anniversary, construction trucks are parked outside the Norfolk Hub in advance of its April opening, and other businesses around Station Place have been lifted by the increase in foot traffic these […]

Norfolk Country Club’s Golf Course Is Acclaimed

New book salutes best nine-hole courses in the country   By Ruth Melville A recently published book declares the Norfolk Country Club’s nine-hole golf course to be one of the finest such courses in the country. “The Finest Nines: The Best Nine-Hole Golf Courses in North America,” by Middletown writer Anthony Pioppi, ranks the NCC […]

Norfolk Awaits the Opening of the Hub in Station Place

  By Dijana Vajushi As many Norfolkians are aware, 2 Station Place in downtown has been vacant since September 2014. This spring will see the eagerly awaited reincarnation of the building as the Hub, the Norfolk Foundation’s coworking and meeting space. Dawn Whalen, executive director of the Norfolk Foundation, explains the purposes of the Hub: […]

Open Anywhere: New Stories by John Funchion

  By Charles Fidlar “When once invited to join a police lineup, I didn’t visualize the scurrilous group of dysfunctional miscreants that I would be alongside.” I know you might guess Mickey Spillane wrote this teaser, but in fact it’s the opening sentence of “The Lineup,” one of John Funchion’s stories from his new collection, […]

Wellness Classes for Mental and Physical Health

Exercising with Friends   By David Beers There is something special happening at the Norfolk Congregational Church’s Battell Chapel almost every day of every week. That something is wellness classes that are open to everyone in our community. You could (and should) go to a gym to get exercise, but you could also enjoy these […]

Station Place Café Serves Up Good Food and Lively Conversation

Spotlight on Town Business   By Colleen Gundlach To build a successful business in Norfolk, it takes a special kind of strong and business-savvy person. That person needs to be able to know instinctively what the 1,500 or so locals need year-round and what the expanded summer population wants during their few months here. In […]

Winter WIN

It was hardly a winter wonderland in Norfolk for Winter WIN, but plenty of people showed up anyway. At 40 degrees, ice skating and sledding were off the schedule, but there was still plenty of fun to be had indoors and out. Visitors. above, enjoyed s’mores and hot chocolate on the patio of Infinity Bistro. […]

NHCOG Hosts Annual Regional Economic Summit

What Have We Accomplished, Where Are We Going   By Ruth Melville On a bitterly cold night at the end of January, the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG) held its third annual economic development summit in the Mad River Lofts building in Winsted. The main goal for the summit was to discuss the perennial […]

Curling Club Celebrates the Olympics

The sport of curling is an important part of Norfolk winter life, but it’s not a passion that’s much shared among the general population. But every four years, during the Winter Olympics, curling takes its place on the world stage. In honor of this year’s Olympics, the Norfolk Curling Club hosted a day of special […]

Norfolk Community Garden Flourishes at Botelle School

  By Gabby Nelson Walking through the Norfolk Community Garden behind Botelle School in midwinter, one may not be greeted by the same lush show as in midsummer, but there is evidence everywhere of promise for the season to come. The picnic tables sitting on a brick patio in the center of the garden wait […]