• The chicken who wanted to be a star and other tales from a norfolk movie set

    By Andra Moss Secrets and small towns don’t often pair well, and Norfolk is a small town. Yet, for eight weeks this summer, a crew of nearly 100 people quietly transformed Tim and Paula Webster’s 1908 Norfolk farmhouse into a film set for a feature-length production, all the while staying under the local radar.  It […]

  • 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, […]

Articles

Garden Conservancy Opens Two Secluded Norfolk Gardens

Guests welcomed to visit, admire and enjoy the beauty on July 15   By Michael Kelly There is something evocative, almost romantic, about a secret garden. What resplendent botanical wonders perfume desultory breezes from behind the garden wall, or peek demurely over closed, enigmatic garden gates, or generate panoplies of burgeoning color around the back […]

Fresh Faces to Lead Norfolk Ambulance

Group selects new roster of officers   By Leila Javitch The Norfolk Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team is complex but flexible group of highly trained individuals. It is really unique in that it is only one of a half dozen ambulance crews in the state that remain completely volunteer and charge no fees for services. […]

Recollections of Norfolk and Colombia

Living in South America after a Norfolk childhood   By Kati Hinman Since moving away from Norfolk, I´ve always been proud of my small town background. I can’t count the number of times people have asked “did you say twelve HUNDRED!” or “but how can you not have a grocery store?” When I moved abroad, […]

Without a Car in Norfolk? You Might Try Renting

  By David Beers When solving a lack of wheels, the first option to my mind is car rental. Most of us are familiar with renting a car at an airport. However, this option is also available in our area. In Torrington, there are two national car rental chain businesses: Enterprise and Hertz. Both offer […]

Norfolk NET Receives $20,000 Grant

  Funds to help residents with basic emergency assistance   By Kelly Kandra Hughes Norfolk NET (Networking Everyone Together), a collaborative grassroots effort to alleviate poverty and strengthen community relationships in Norfolk, has been generously awarded a $20,000 grant from the William and Mary Greve Foundation. According to Norfolk resident Tony Kiser, president of the […]

Holistic Health Counselor to Appear at Norfolk Farmers Market

Terry Walters, author of three best-selling cookbooks, “Eat Clean, Live Well,” “Clean Food” and “Clean Start” returns to the Norfolk Farmers Market on July 24 for a cooking demonstration and book signing. A well-known holistic health counselor, food educator and motivational speaker, she serves on the Board of Directors for Urban Oaks Organic Farm, one […]

Christina Vanderlip Awarded a First Prize in Garden Club Show

Implying National Parks in Floral Design   By Colleen Gundlach Norfolk’s Christina Vanderlip was honored with a first place award in the Litchfield Garden Club’s Flower Show on June 9. The theme of this show was “Our National Parks—America’s Best Idea.” Entrants were given a phrase to interpret in the media of floral design, horticulture […]

June Is the Month for Town Permits and Licenses

  By Wiley Wood If you’re making garbage in Norfolk, or planning to cool off in Tobey Pond this summer, or if you own a dog, then chances are you will be making a pilgrimage to the town clerk’s office, checkbook in hand, some time this month. “Cash or check,” says Town Clerk Linda Perkins. […]

Fire Chief Matthew Ludwig Continues a Family Tradition

  By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department Chief Matthew Ludwig has been a member of the NVFD for 24 years, joining as an Explorer at the age of 14. Officers are elected every year from the 50 members, and 2017 marks Ludwig’s fifth as fire chief. He was first assistant chief for seven […]

Japanese Crepe-Paper Books in the Norfolk Library

Treasures from the Rare Book Room     By Lucy Mookerjee  “The Tongue Cut Sparrow” is a Japanese fable about an old woman who cuts out the tongue of a sparrow for stealing her washing basket. When her neighbors rescue the sparrow, the basket is returned to them filled with jewels. Hearing this, the old […]

Marble Cliffs, Open Fields and River Walks

Visiting Bartholomew’s Cobble   By Susannah Wood Less than half an hour away from Norfolk is a little gem of a place where walking ferns trail their way down marble outcrops, a miniature grove of white trillium marks a recent burn, and neo-tropical migrants fly in to rest along the banks of the Housatonic. Bartholomew’s […]

Christmas Tree With Long Local History Planted on Town Green

  By Wiley Wood Norfolk is a town that takes its trees seriously. In the nineteenth century, it endorsed a project to plant one of every native tree in Norfolk on the village green. So when the town’s Christmas tree on the green across from the library started to show signs of needle rust two […]