• Proposed Manor House Expansion Draws Large Crowd

    Many differing views on effect of change in town center By Susan MacEachron Norfolk residents filled the Botelle School Hall of Flags on a very cold evening on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to attend the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) public hearing regarding a modification to the special permit granted in 1996 to the property known as […]

  • From All Angels

    Throughout the month of February, Garet&Co will be returning to Norfolk to present their third annual performance in the Battell Chapel, where each piece will be set in the round.  In this presentation, titled “From All Angles”, the audience will witness the translation of three of the works presented at their fall show.   “Can’t Keep […]

  • Norfolk Then

    Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, Librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an electrical engineer, who would be hired in 1902 to manage London’s underground railway system, converting it from steam to electricity. The Spoffords engaged the architect […]

  • Sweets on the Green

    A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7.     Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]

  • Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End

    Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]

  • New Meanings for a Monument

    Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]

  • Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day

    plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]

  • NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners

    More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]

  • Can you spot the Real Curler?

    There was movie magic ice to be made, and the pros of the Norfolk Curling Club were the first to get the call. In October, NCC’s Jon Barbagallo, Lou Barbagallo, Rachel Barbagallo, Mark Walsh, Harvey Chalmers and Phill West were hired by a production company to make curling ice at a Rhode Island hockey rink […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1917 photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties, including the right to own property, hold public office, sit on juries, participate in public assemblies and vote. The group of 25 suffragists—20 women and five men—gathered on the porch following their meeting with Congressman […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

Botelle Beat

Student Council Works to Make the School the Best It Can Be By Mackenzie Casey  At Botelle School, the student council represents the school’s belief that students should be responsible, respectful, persevering, honest and good at collaborating with others. This council is made up of eight members of the 5th and 6th grades: Olivia Olsen, […]

Crissey Place: The Changing Shape of 19th-Century Norfolk

By Ryan Bachman Like many New England towns, Norfolk boasts an impressive selection of historic architecture. Colonial-era farmhouses face seldom-traveled backroads, surviving industrial buildings stand along the Blackberry River and Gilded Age summer homes line the shores of various lakes. Individually, each of these buildings illustrates a select period of the town’s history, and efforts […]

Where Wise Men Also Fish

A bookstore in the Berkshires   By Wiley Wood The Bookstore has been in the same brick building in Lenox, Mass., for five decades and is something of a pilgrimage site. Still, why travel to a bookstore when just about any book you can think of is available online? As I push open the bookstore’s […]

Kirk and Cindy Sinclair Face the Most Difficult Journey of All

From Walking Sticks to Pedicabs By Colleen Gundlach For their fifth date, Kirk and Cindy Sinclair hiked the entire 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Avid hikers, the pair met when he was a University of Connecticut alumnus and she was a student there. Having reached their 30th wedding anniversary together, their exercise routine is […]

The Stained Glass Windows of Norfolk

A Tale of Two Masters By Babs Perkins When stained glass is mentioned in conversation, for many, the first name that springs to mind is Tiffany: Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of jeweler and Tiffany & Co. founder Charles Lewis Tiffany. When stained glass windows and Norfolk are referenced, the windows in Battell Chapel, the library […]

Coffee, Cake and Community Storytelling

  Photo by Bruce Frisch Last month’s Coffee House in Battell Chapel was a warm and convivial evening. Conceived as a different kind of fundraiser for the Congregational Church, the event offered a warm, candlelit setting, delicious homemade desserts and coffee and also storytelling and poetry reading by local authors. Gloria Gourley, a member of […]

Tom Burr’s Latest Project Is Inspired by Iconic Building in New Haven

  A public homecoming for a local artist By Courtney Maum Conceptual artist and Norfolk resident Tom Burr has a magnetic pull toward structures that have preceded him, and the Marcel Breuer-designed Pirelli building in New Haven is no exception. Burr was born in New Haven only a few years before the building’s construction, so […]

Thorncrest Farm Magically Turns Milk into Chocolates

By Chris Sinclair When rare ability is married with a singular passion, the results can transcend the exceptional and wander into the realm of magic. Such a marriage is on vivid display at Thorncrest Farm, in Goshen, where Clint and Kim Thorn, along with their crew and beloved “girls,” make some of the finest chocolates […]

Piping in the Curlers

  To celebrate the last day of this year’s afterschool curling program, bagpiper Daniel Ward led the students across the ice. This is the second year of the Botelle program, which the school hopes to offer every year. Dave Beers, Jon Barbagallo and Bill Brodnitzki share the instruction duties. With young students learning the sport, […]

Northwest Connecticut Regional Food Hub Starts up this Spring

New Venture to Help Farmers Connect with Wholesale Market By Ruth Melville After over two years of research and planning, an innovative approach to supporting local farmers is about to get underway. The Northwest Connecticut Regional Food Hub is scheduled to launch in the 2017 growing season. What is a “food hub”? The U.S. Department […]

Foundation Offers Local Students Scholarships in the Arts

Every year, the Battell Arts Foundation awards scholarships to students who want to pursue a dream in the arts. The next deadline for scholarships is Monday, April 3, 2017. Applicants must be residents of Norfolk or Colebrook and in grades 3 through 12. They must be currently engaged in an artistic endeavor. For application requirements […]

Working Toward a Low Salt Diet

  By Susannah Wood As winter started up in earnest in late fall, drivers around town began to see scatterings of greenish chunks on the roads before any bad weather had actually arrived. Was this something new? Why was it being applied before the snow and not after? Turns out, there’s a good reason, a […]