• 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

Following Budget Cuts, School Board Decides to Cut Botelle School’s Strings Program

Liz Allyn Is Resigning as Music Teacher   By Ruth Melville In response to a combination of rising expenses and a decreasing budget, the Norfolk Board of Education has decided to eliminate the strings part of music education at Botelle School. Until the upcoming school year, all Botelle students had, at the music teacher’s discretion, […]

Wood Creek Bar and Grill Is a Role Model for Town-Wide Involvement

A Community Anchor   By Colleen Gundlach The dream of many chefs is to own a restaurant of their own. It takes years of dedication, long hours and just plain hard work to achieve, yet is a goal that many never attain. For Heidi Dinsmore, co-owner of Wood Creek Bar and Grill, her hard work […]

City Meadow: Town Takes First Steps Toward Phase Two

  By Wiley Wood The dragonflies like it. Pairs of brightly patterned skimmers chase each other around the pools in City Meadow Park, before disappearing into the long grasses. A lone visitor approaches on the walkway. “First time here,” he says in greeting. “They told me two people couldn’t walk abreast, but they must have […]

Trail Runners Take to the Woods

  By David Beers If you have ever seen a blur of colorfully dressed people running through the Norfolk woods in the evening, it is likely the Hill County Trail Runners. This informal Norfolk-based club gets together at 5:30 every Tuesday evening to run the many beautiful trails in and near Norfolk. Each week features […]

Firefighting From Behind the Front Lines

  By C. J. Sosna On Saturday, June 30, a day when the temperature climbed into the 90s, the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) was called out to a house fire on Torringford Road in Winsted. By the time they arrived shortly after 7 p.m., the entire roof was already in flames, and the heat […]

CT DEEP to Purchase 420-Acre Vagliano Forest in Norfolk

Creates unsegmented corridor to Blackberry River   By William Gridley The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is in the final stages of a transaction with the Vagliano family to acquire 420 acres of Norfolk forestland, tapping funds from the federal Highlands Conservation Act. The property, which includes the cold-water stream Roaring Brook, […]

Getting Outdoors is Good for Your Brain

Scientific evidence that living in Norfolk is good for health and happiness   by Kathy Robb The summer solstice on June 21 means that summer is officially here, and with it the pleasure of being outdoors in the beautiful weather Norfolk offers. Humans know intuitively that being outside makes them feel good. This intuition has […]

National Iron Bank Holds Grand Reopening

  By Ruth Melville As part of a strategic plan to renovate all their branches, the National Iron Bank in Norfolk has spent the past six months refurbishing its building on Station Place. With the internal demolition and reconstruction mostly completed, attention has now shifted to exterior work, and the grand reopening is scheduled for […]

Firearms, Monoculars and Norfolk History

Antique arms and vintage posters on display at Icebox Armory   By Karen Linden Jack, a cute and friendly canine, is the first greeter you’ll meet at Ice Box Armory. Next is Hal Cannon, who has opened his cozy, well-provisioned arms shop right on Route 44 near the west end of Norfolk. Cannon was employed […]

Norfolk Artists & Friends Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Ten Guest Artists Invited to Take Part   By Ruth Melville Every year on the first weekend in August, the Norfolk Artists & Friends (NAF) holds an art exhibition in the Battell Stoeckel Gallery (known as the Art Barn). This year is the group’s 10th anniversary exhibition, and to celebrate, the members have decided to […]

Growing Shiitakes for Fun and Profit

  By Wiley Wood If you’ve come to the Norfolk Farmers Market looking for goat milk soap, French pastries, or zucchini blossoms, Andy Griffin’s stand is not for you. What he has is mushrooms, mostly shiitakes, which he sells by the pint or the half pint. Early on a Saturday morning, he might have a […]

Pooch Palace Offers Luxury Services in New High-Tech Resort for Pets

A place for furry, winged or scaly princes and princesses   By C. J. Sosna When your lovebug needs some pampering or has to be left behind while you take an all-important trip, you now have a solution in one nearby “palace.” Charlene Martel has been in the pet industry for eight years and has […]