• Work to Resume on Route 44 and New Firehouse

    Warmer temps ensure concrete quality By Avice Meehan Two significant Norfolk projects that were put on hold because of below-zero temperatures this winter are expected to resume by mid-March: Reconstruction of two retaining walls along Route 44 and the construction of a new firehouse for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department. Engineers for the state Department […]

  • Richard Byrne Retires as Active Firefighter

    After 58 years, veteran status By Joseph Kelly He was a young Navy veteran, about to be married and ready to start a family in his hometown when, in February 1968, his older brother convinced him to join the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD). For Richard Byrne it was the start of an association that […]

  • Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus Will Benefit Local Food Banks

    Three Grammy nominees to perform at Infinity Hall By Colleen Gundlach On April 11, Infinity Hall will be the setting for Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus, a concert that will benefit Stock the Shelves, an outreach of United Way of Northwestern Connecticut. The Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus will feature three Grammy nominees […]

  • Rom-Com Curling Film Released With Olympics

    To get the ice just right, filmmakers tapped Norfolk expertise By Joseph Kelly The underdogs who battle the odds—the washed-up boxer, the outclassed football team, the aging baseball slugger with one last homerun in him—are all Hollywood standbys. Ronald Reagan may be remembered as much for “win one for the Gipper” as he is for […]

  • How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning

    By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]

  • Choral Singing Meets Bluegrass

    LCCU welcomes all ages to sing new styles By Andra Moss The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) is entering its 127th concert year with decidedly youthful energy. Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Gabriel Löfvall, the LCCU will convene a youth choral festival in Norfolk in late spring; offer a series of choral seminars […]

  • Winter Weekend In Norfolk

    It was a cold and blustery weekend, but that didn’t stop the hardy from coming out on Feb. 21 and 22 for Winter WIN, the weekend for enjoying all things Norfolk in the winter season. The photos below show a story of a town that came together to strut its stuff for the world to […]

  • From Freeze to Flow: Extreme Temps and the Maple Syrup Season

    Reaching that ideal mix of natural conditions By Jude Mead The extreme cold and heavy snowfall this season has raised some concern among maple syrup producers. Reports of loud, cracking noises in wooded areas have set the stage for a phenomenon called “frost cracking.” During these periods of intense cold, the water and sap inside […]

  • Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale

    With Jude Mead at the guitar and with great enthusiasm, members of the Isabella Eldridge Club defied a threatened winter storm and entered Battell Chapel on Feb. 10 for a memorable performance of an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” a daft 1960s television comedy. Despite the best efforts of the Professor (played by Marinell Crippen, left) […]

  • Cook For Goodness Sake

    America The Melting Pot By Linda Garrettson In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, it seems appropriate to dedicate my food column this year to America, who we are, and what we eat. Get ready for some history lessons, and perhaps surprises that might enlighten you to what we call American […]

  • Be Careful, Very Careful

    An expert team from the Glass Source Stained Glass Studio spent nearly six hours in cold mid-January weather care-fully removing a cathedral stained glass window from Battell Chapel at the United Church of Christ before transporting it to their studio in Seymour for restoration. In this photo, Michael Skrtic balances one section of the window […]

  • The Week that Was

    First, frigid temperatures forced the relocation of Norfolk’s valiant Post Office staff to Winsted because of scheduled asbestos remediation, leaving box holders temporarily puzzled. Then, the big snow arrived on Jan. 25 and 26. Estimates vary widely: Russell Russ reported the official tally at the Great Mountain Forest weather station as 15.2 inches, but others […]

Articles

Discovering Norfolk

In the Heart of the Village, Time Moves with the Sun By Jude Mead Nestled modestly behind the Battell Fountain on the Norfolk village green sits a sundial purchased by Mary Eldridge in 1904. Eldridge had also gifted the town with the Stanford White designed fountain that the sundial sits behind in 1889 in memory […]

Local Theaters Look to 2025 as Turning Point

More music at Infinity, live performances and film in North Canaan By Joseph Kelly To run a small theater in a rural area, it helps to be optimistic—as in gung-ho, grit-your-teeth, “if we build it they will come” optimistic. Just ask Lenore Mallett, an owner of North Canaan’s Colonial Theater. Or Tyler Grill, the CEO […]

Public Hearing Held on Net Town Budget of $8.24 Million

Annual town meeting set for May 12 By Avice Meehan Norfolk residents will be asked to approve a net town budget of $8.24 million for education and general government services at the annual town meeting scheduled for May 12 at Botelle Elementary School.  The proposed budget—after adjustments are made for state aid and other revenues—represents […]

Haystack Woods Secures $4 Million

State funding gets affordable housing development off the ground By Joe Kelly A plan to build a campus of compact, affordable homes on 39 acres off Old Colony Road has cleared a major hurdle: the state of Connecticut has committed nearly $4 million to start construction.  The state money, combined with a roughly $2 million […]

A New Ecosystem of Conservation Organizations for Norfolk

By Cheryl Heller People tend to conform to the boundaries that surround them, whether they are state lines or the social norms that shape behavior. But as Peter Senge, a systems scientist and author noted, “All boundaries, national boundaries included, are fundamentally arbitrary. We invent them and then, ironically, we find ourselves trapped within them.” […]

Radio Norfolk?

 Resident Hopes to Develop a Community Station By Colleen Gundlach With internet radio and streaming services available, do people turn the dial to listen to old-fashioned radio these days? Norfolk musician, writer and content producer Michael Cobb answers that question with a resounding “yes.”   Cobb, who was a disc jockey at the Berkshire School’s radio […]

Maple Syrup Season Faced Weather Challenges 

By Jude Mead Boiling sap for maple syrup, a beloved natural sweetener produced in Norfolk, is a seasonal ritual this time of year and has a longstanding cultural tradition throughout New England. This year, the treasured tradition was under threat because unfavorable weather conditions posed significant challenges to maple syrup producers.  Russell Russ, property manager […]

Proposed Cell Tower Generates Many Questions

Residents of Estey Road worry about impact By Avice Meehan More than 30 people, including concerned residents of Estey Road, turned out for a March 26 informational meeting about a proposal to build a 186-foot cell tower on property located off the isolated, rural road in South Norfolk. The meeting, held at the Botelle School […]

Eversource to Sell Aquarion, Alter Ownership Structure

Will ending PURA oversight mean higher water rates? By Joe Kelly Aquarion Water Company—and by extension Norfolk’s public water system—may be about to undergo a massive shift in ownership. Eversource Energy, which purchased Aquarion in 2017 but put it up for sale a year ago amid regulatory tensions and reversals in its wind energy investments, […]

Draft School Budget Shows Modest Increase

Annual cost for Botelle School is $2.7 million By Avice Meehan The Board of Education (BOE) is considering a budget of $2,762,690 for the upcoming fiscal year, which represents an increase of 4.29 percent over this year’s adopted budget of $2,649,086. The draft budget was presented at the Feb. 11 board meeting and will be […]

Norfolk’s Superintendent to Retire

Colebrook principal also stepping down By Avice Meehan Changes in school leadership are afoot in both Norfolk and Colebrook with the nearly simultaneous but unrelated retirement announcements by the school superintendent in Norfolk and the principal of the Colebrook Consolidated School. Mary Beth Iacobelli, who became Norfolk’s superintendent in 2014, shared her decision with the […]

Future Proofing

Norfolk, Colebrook Hold Joint Meeting About Schools By Avice Meehan The Hall of Flags at Botelle Elementary School has been the scene of many important Norfolk meetings, but few have carried as much significance as the Feb. 20 joint session with Colebrook to explore how the towns might work together to address declining school enrollments. […]