• 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

Finding True Southern Barbecue and a Touch of History in Burrville

Out and About   By Colleen Gundlach There are few restaurants in the area that can say they prepare their entire menu fresh daily, and even fewer that start cooking the day’s food at 5:45 a.m. For Lou and Gina Gabriel, however, this is their reality, because developing the deep, rich flavors of barbecue takes […]

Peeping at Spring Leaf-Out

Local observation station is longtime contributor to national network   By Wiley Wood The three spindly lilac bushes growing near the cooperative weather station on Windrow Road don’t look like much, but they are an unusually well-documented trio of plants. Not the common lilac, which is more lushly flowered, they are a clone, Syringa chinensis […]

Taxes Increase Despite Drastic Cuts to Town Programs

Botelle School budget takes major hit   By Wiley Wood Town taxes will rise about 4.5 percent in the coming year, according to Board of Finance Chairman Michael Sconyers, who spoke at the town’s annual budget hearing on April 24. “I really don’t like the budget,” said Sconyers, who explained that a decrease in allocations […]

Norfolk Sewer District Prepares for $4.2 Million in Repairs

Membership will meet to decide course of action   By Wiley Wood A modest brick building beside the Blackberry River going toward Canaan houses Norfolk’s wastewater treatment plant. Bill Hester, the plant’s superintendent, points out a sunken concrete box near the building into which a 12-inch pipe discharges water. Although the influent looks only slightly […]

Wendy Roberts Reclaims the Beauty and Serenity of the Mountain View Inn

  By Colleen Gundlach When Erastus Johnson built his stately Gilded Age home on the knoll just south of Norfolk’s Village Green in 1900, he named it Wildwood. This was a name that stayed with the property through its next owner, H.E. Adriance, a wealthy New York City resident who kept Wildwood as his summer […]

Buttons to Commemorate Veterans at Memorial Day Ceremony

For Linda Perkins, Memorial Day is an important holiday, not only for the nation but for the small town of Norfolk. As she puts it, “It’s the one time we gather as a town community to honor those who served our country. They deserve to be remembered. We owe them a debt of gratitude.” But […]

Wildlife Rehabilitator Angela Luna Grano Finds a New Home in Norfolk

  By Ruth Melville Wanting to escape what she calls “a suburban prison,” Angela Luna Grano decided to buy a farm and move to Norfolk, drawn here by the town’s natural beauty. Grano, who is a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator, says that she “felt a certain spirituality in these woods.” She wanted her two daughters […]

For Emily Irwin, Home = Love

New homewares shop opens in downtown Norfolk    By Janet Gokay Mead So you want to open a shop that sells things for the home—thoughtful, lovely things. You live in New Marlborough, in the Berkshires, where you run a very successful restaurant, Cantina 229, with your husband. You have three kids: two, nine, and 14-years […]

Michelle Childs Teaches Pilates and Nia Classes in a Historic Setting

  By David Beers Parts one and two of this series on fitness classes in Norfolk highlighted the classes offered at Battell Chapel, but that is not the only venue in town offering fitness classes. There are also group fitness classes almost every day in a lovingly restored carriage barn just south of town. Located […]

Torrington Coffee House Serves Up Coffee, Tea and “Good Company”

  By Julie Scharnberg It’s just the place you’re looking for when you want a coffee or tea break. Located in a charming, sage-green building at 33 Franklin Street in Torrington along the Naugatuck River across from Danielle Mailer’s colorful “FishTales” mural, Good Company Coffee House is cozy and comfortable and smells heavenly when you […]

KidsPlay Children’s Museum: A Children’s Wonderland to Learn and Play

  By Dijana Vajushi As soon as you enter the KidsPlay Children’s Museum at 61 Main Street in Torrington, you can’t help but feel as though you’ve just entered a children’s wonderland. The museum operates over 11,000 square feet of interactive, hands-on exhibits where children ages one to 10 can practice pre-academic skills, build curiosity […]

Spirit Ballooning in Canaan Takes Passengers on an Unforgettable Ride

  By Chris Sinclair In the minds of most people, hot air balloons exist only on postcards and in children’s books, and going up in a one seems about as likely as saddling up a unicorn and going for a ride. As it turns out, going up in a hot air balloon is a far […]