• Inside the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art

    A season of student and community activity By Patricia Platt For over 80 years, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust has endowed Yale University’s summer music and art programs in Norfolk. The renowned Yale Norfolk School of Art opens the 2026 summer season on May 23, before the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival begins, and shares its […]

  • Trio Revives Local Farmers Market

    Northwest Farm to Fork launches at Norbrook By Andra Moss When Devin Grosso and her husband moved to Norfolk in 2024, she was disappointed to learn that the town’s farmers market had permanently closed just the year before. However, a chance meeting at the Botelle School garden with Lisa Auclair, who had managed the Norfolk […]

  • Tracing the Dudley Legacy

    Family history and the truth behind Dudleytown By Jude Mead The Dudley name, with roots stretching back to 14th-century England, carries with it a long and often dramatic history. For Susan Dudley of Winchester, that legacy has been a lifelong source of curiosity—particularly her family’s connection to Dudleytown, the long-abandoned settlement hidden within Cornwall’s Dark […]

  • Cultivars, Nativars and Natives: The Lowdown

    by Susannah Wood It’s May and gardening is in full swing. At nurseries and on gardening sites, beginners and enthusiasts often encounter plants labelled “cultivar” or “nativar,” as well as “native.” What is the difference between a cultivar and a nativar? If someone wants to support local ecosystems and biological diversity, are nativars a good […]

  • Noteworthy Natives: Arrowwood Viburnum

    By Jill Chase For some, a mass of viburnums in bloom on the woodlands edge rivals the beauty of any formal garden around. The fresh white flowers on green foliage let you know that the spring garden season is well and truly on. There are several good varieties of viburnum—some produce blooms like snowballs, while […]

  • A Town Hall Treat for Pollinators

    The Norfolk Nature Alliance sponsored a student native plant garden project at Town Hall. The Northwestern Regional 7 Agricultural Education Program/FFA arrived on a sunny Sunday to install the donated native shrubs and perennials.

  • Birds Now

    A view on the prose and poetry of spring By Cheryl Heller As I write, the red-winged blackbirds are partying outside my window. Goldfinches, in their bright almost-summer feathers, make yellow polkadots in the dogwood that will flower any day. The phoebe (or her daughter) who has nested on our hanging porch light for the […]

  • Happiness Is …

    Smiles and squeals greeted “Farmer John” Coston as he surprised the Merrymakers group of kindergarten and first-graders with a lamb visit at the Norfolk Library’s after-school program on March 23. Cuties and lambs—need we say more?

  • Greenwoods Puppet Festival Returns to Norfolk Library

    By Bina ThomsonThe Greenwoods Puppet Festival returns to Norfolk for a third exciting showcase of puppet magic. Children’s Librarian and Event Coordinator Eileen Fitzgibbons, who has coordinated the previous two festivals, is busy fine-tuning this year’s offerings. In addition to a full day of performances, a puppetry workshop for adults will also be offered. Festivities […]

  • Botelle Beat

    Power Goals and WIN Time Personalize Learning at Botelle By Lauren Valentino One of Botelle School’s SOAR expectations is to Achieve Your Goals. We believe that when students know their goals—what they are learning, why and what success looks like—they are more engaged and motivated. They are partners in the learning process and own their […]

  • Courtney Maum’s Comedic Take on Capitalism

    On June 2nd, Norfolk author Courtney Maum launches her new novel, “ALAN OPTS OUT” (Little Brown) at the Norfolk Library in conversation with WAMC radio’s Sarah LaDuke. The book is a comedy about an ad exec who bombs the biggest pitch of his career and decides to move into a backyard playhouse, opt out of […]

  • “You Shall Not Pass!”

    Gandalf and the state Department of Transportation have spoken. Mountain Road at Westside Road is now closed through November for the Spaulding Brook bridge replacement project. Traffic is being detoured off Route 44 via Westside Road. Cars can still reach the ball fields along the short stretch of Mountain Road.

Articles

Litchfield County Choral Union to Perform July 27

Members of the Litchfield County Choral Union will gather for its 126th anniversary concert in the Music Shed at the Battell-Stoeckel Estate on July 27. This summer’s concert will be a particularly stimulating one with music chosen by music director, Gabriel Löfvall, to bring sunshine into dark times. The concert, entitled “And Still We Sing! […]

Voters Approve New Firehouse

By Avice MeehanVoters at a May 22 special town meeting gave the go-ahead for a new Norfolk firehouse in less time than it took for moderator Richard Byrne to read the resolution authorizing the $9.3 million building.The unanimous vote, with more than 100 in attendance at the Botelle School Hall of Flags at 7 p.m., […]

Reminder: June Is Renewal Month for Town Permits and Licenses

Before packing the car for Tobey Pond or hauling the last of spring cleaning to the transfer station, residents should be sure to update their permit stickers. New 2025-26 permits for the Norfolk Transfer Station must be purchased by July 1 and displayed on the passenger side of the vehicle. They are $100 for the […]

Route 44 Retaining Wall Project Making Progress

Completion expected by September 2026 By Avice MeehanThe Connecticut Department of Transportation has good news for Norfolk residents and travelers who use Route 44: The massive project to replace three retaining walls below and to the east of Norfolk’s historic Center Cemetery has a September 2026 completion date. CDOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto, who last worked […]

Haystack Woods Breaks Ground in Norfolk

Botelle Beat

Botelle BeatParticipatory Theater Inspires Clean Ocean Awareness By Lauren ValentinoMore than 20 years ago, the Grumbling Gryphons, a professional traveling children’s theater group from Cornwall, came to Botelle School and performed the play “The Ghost Net.” This week they returned and gave a repeat performance of the same play, wowing students, staff and family members […]

Wings Over Norfolk: A Look at Small-Town Bird Life

By Jude Mead Bird watching may seem like an old-fashioned pastime, but in recent years it has soared in popularity because it offers a peaceful way to reconnect with nature, requires minimal equipment, has zero cost of entry and is enjoyable. Whether it’s a robin hopping across a backyard or a hawk circling high above […]

Norfolk Then…

The Eldridge Gymnasium, now Town Hall, was built in 1892. This view of the rear of the building, then with an open veranda, features the vibrant multi-colored buff and beige Mission tiles of the roof, sadly removed. The Gymnasium quickly became a hub of activity. In addition to grass tennis courts in front, there were […]

Cell Tower Application Filed with Siting Council

Balloon test held over Estey Road By Avice Meehan The otherwise quiet Estey Road became a busy thoroughfare on April 18 as Tarpon Towers conducted a balloon test to help residents understand the potential visual impact of a 186-foot cell tower.  The application for the tower, which would serve Verizon Wireless, was filed with the […]

Discovering Norfolk

In the Heart of the Village, Time Moves with the Sun By Jude Mead Nestled modestly behind the Battell Fountain on the Norfolk village green sits a sundial purchased by Mary Eldridge in 1904. Eldridge had also gifted the town with the Stanford White designed fountain that the sundial sits behind in 1889 in memory […]

Local Theaters Look to 2025 as Turning Point

More music at Infinity, live performances and film in North Canaan By Joseph Kelly To run a small theater in a rural area, it helps to be optimistic—as in gung-ho, grit-your-teeth, “if we build it they will come” optimistic. Just ask Lenore Mallett, an owner of North Canaan’s Colonial Theater. Or Tyler Grill, the CEO […]

Public Hearing Held on Net Town Budget of $8.24 Million

Annual town meeting set for May 12 By Avice Meehan Norfolk residents will be asked to approve a net town budget of $8.24 million for education and general government services at the annual town meeting scheduled for May 12 at Botelle Elementary School.  The proposed budget—after adjustments are made for state aid and other revenues—represents […]