• 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

Consolini & Tonan: Planting Gardens, Building Community

  By Ruth Melville Marc Tonan and Marialisa Consolini, the co-owners of Consolini & Tonan Landscape Design, have been working together, on and off, for over 25 years. Both gardeners got an early start on their future careers. When he was only 11 years old, Tonan was hired by Fred and Mary Ann McGourty to […]

School Costs Rise, but Board of Finance Unmoved

Plea for small increase meets with little sympathy   By Wiley Wood In an early skirmish of the town budget wars, the Board of Finance delivered strong messages to the Regional No. 7 Board of Education and to the Norfolk Board of Education that this was not a year for budget increases. School Superintendant Mary […]

State Biologists Call on Public to Report Bobcat Sightings

  By Jude Mead Have you seen a bobcat lately? Have you spotted a footprint of one in the snow? If so, then Jason Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), would like to know. Hawley said the state is conducting a bobcat study to evaluate the habitat and […]

It’s a Farm Brewery, But Not Just Beer Is on Tap

Outdoor activity for all seasons at Norbrook Farm Brewery   By Colleen Gundlach Excitement has been mounting around town for the much-anticipated opening of Norbrook Farm Brewery, expected to begin operations later this year. This new business in town, owned by brothers John and Randy Auclair, promises to be much more than a place to […]

State Harvests Ash Trees at Dennis Hill State Park

Emerald ash borer expected in Norfolk this year   By David Beers Eighty-three years ago, Dr. Frederick Dennis gave his 240-acre Norfolk property to the state to become Dennis Hill State Park. Dennis was a New York City surgeon and an amateur horticulturist. A stipulation of this gift is that the property be kept “in […]

Norfolk’s Nov. and Dec. Weather and a Yearly Summary for 2017

A Chilly End to the Tenth Warmest Year on Record   By Russell Russ The surplus of rainfall in October nearly wiped out the yearly deficit that had been slowly growing all year long. The months of November and December were drier than normal, which increased the deficit to close out the year. The year […]

Religious Compound Plans Cultural Center

Organization seeks greater contact with the surrounding community   By Wiley Wood On a recent day, piles of construction debris formed mounds under the windows of the stone mansion on Westside Road belonging to the Confucian Study Association. The building is undergoing major renovations, according to the association’s secretary and spokesman, Craig Chung. The plan […]

Food Insecurity Not Always a Consequence of Lack of Resources

  Working toward food justice in Norfolk   By Gabby Nelson Food justice is one of the most intimate facets of a growing social justice movement. Human beings interact with food every day, but the way the majority of it is currently produced, distributed, and consumed is often harmful to people and to the environment. […]

Norfolk Residents Help Those in Need While Helping Themselves

Alternative Gift Market returns to town this holiday season   By Kelly Kandra Hughes Looking for more meaningful holiday gifts this Christmas? After a hiatus of several years, the Alternative Gift Market returns to Norfolk’s Church of Christ during coffee hour (approximately 11 a.m. to noon) on Sunday, December 3, and Sunday, December 10. This […]

Winsted’s Blue Dandelion Yoga Offers Classes in Yoga and Massage

New studio opens in Mad River Lofts building   By Ruth Melville On October 1, 2017, Becky Thompson held an open house to inaugurate Blue Dandelion Yoga, her new yoga studio in Winsted’s Mad River Lofts building. To her amazement, 150 people showed up. “It was a beautiful gathering of people. I could see it […]

Bus Tours of Norfolk Show Visitors the Town’s Hidden Treasures

Tiffany Windows Attract Tourists   By Ruth Melville Norfolk residents have always been proud of their town, and there is a growing feeling that it would be nice if other people knew more about the town’s rich artistic and architectural history. New efforts like the WIN weekend are designed in part with this in mind, […]

Representative Brian Ohler Looks Back on His First Session in Hartford

Budget woes overshadow other issues   By Susannah Wood State Representative Brian Ohler had already arrived at the Berkshire Country Store and was deep in conversation with Ryan Craig when I walked in five minutes ahead of our scheduled appointment Against the background noise of coffee traffic and orders for late breakfasts, we settled into […]