• 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

Winsted Paper Folds, Merges With Lakeville Journal

News coverage for Norfolk to continue uninterrupted   By Colleen Gundlach Before Lloyd Garrison and Rosanna Trestman breathed life into Norfolk Now 14 years ago, local news was circulated by out-of-town papers such as the Register-Citizen (formerly Winsted Evening Citizen) and The Lakeville Journal.  The Register-Citizen has long since forgone any in-depth coverage of Norfolk, […]

Botelle School Starts New Year With Pride and Enthusiasm

Prioritizes citizenship as a foundation for academic excellence   By Amy Vorenberg Sixth graders at Botelle School were quick to share their insights into their school community: —It’s a place to feel welcome. —When you walk through the door, you’ll learn new things. —It’s a place where you know you’re safe; a place to be […]

Department of Transportation Proposes New Road Safety Measures

Citizens action group formed to slow traffic through Norfolk   By Wiley Wood Norfolk is a town cut in two by an arterial road. If you walk from the village green to the Norfolk Library or to Station Place—as many residents and Yale Music School students do—you take your life in your hands crossing Route […]

Faces at the Farmers Market

Woven Stars Farm, Food With a Conscience   By Wiley Wood On a typical day, Emerson Martin and Lizzie Galeucia bring pasture-raised eggs, raw honey, oyster mushrooms and heirloom tomatoes to the farmers market in Norfolk. In the fall they will add frozen cuts of lamb and goat. Diversity is part of their plan, and […]

Without a Car in Norfolk? 

Dial-A-Ride is Curb to Curb and Available to Everyone   By David Beers On Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m., a little bus picked me up at my house to take me wherever I wanted to go, whether shopping, dining, medical appointments or any other appointments in northwest Connecticut. The round trip cost was $2.50, regardless […]

Norfolk’s Much-Decorated Fire Engine 90 is Retiring

NVFD to bid farewell to state champion pumper truck   By Sally Quale Engine 90, Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department’s (NVFD) award-winning, 30-year-old pumper truck, is scheduled to be retired and replaced this fall. It has served well as a highly versatile pumper, whose smaller size and four-wheel drive enables it to reach fires at the […]

A Bearded Dragon, a Python and Their Friends Come to Norfolk

The Ted Byers Conservation Lecture Featured Wildlife Rehabilitator   By Jude Mead A rare box turtle, a four-foot long python snake, a colorful painted turtle and a bearded dragon lizard were spotted at Doolittle Lake last month. But not to worry because these reptiles were featured at the annual Ted Byers Conservation Lecture held on […]

Historical Gravestones Offer Hints About Past Lives

Tales from the Old “Buryal Yard”   By Ryan Bachman Walking through an old graveyard can be like stepping back in time. The strange designs and archaic language carved on historic gravestones can tell little known and unusual facts about the history of a community and its residents. Two hundred and sixty years ago this […]

Norfolk NET: A Conversation With the Rev. Erick Olsen

By Kelly Kandra Hughes Norfolk NET (Networking Everyone Together) is a collaborative, grassroots effort to alleviate poverty and strengthen community relationships in Norfolk. One of the lead collaborators, the Rev. Erick Olsen, pastor of the Church of Christ Congregational (UCC), recently agreed to share with Norfolk Now his thoughts on this initiative and his hopes […]

Placing Classical Music Within a Wider Conversation

New Director at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival   By Wiley Wood Melvin Chen, the new director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, talks about music in a distinctly down-to-earth way. “Just like in a relationship,” he says to the young musicians who have performed a Franck piano quintet for him at a public masterclass, […]

Without a Car in Norfolk? From Feet to Bike to eBike

  By David Beers You have probably noticed a biker plodding his way up the steep hill from Winsted in the rain and snow. If you’re like me, you probably felt a pang of pity because of the difficult terrain and weather. Well, let me assure you, this particular biker does not want your pity, […]

Christodora Program Brings City Youth to Study in Great Mountain Forest

Trading Cell Phones for Compasses   By Susan MacEachron Is there a correlation between the density of hay-scented fern and the tick population? How do soil conditions affect the growth of Late Low blueberries? What is the impact of environmental conditions on the red eft, which is the orange, land-dwelling, juvenile stage of the eastern […]