• great blue heron rookeries

    working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn […]

  • Looking Back Over the Years

    The End of an Era for Norfolk Now By Colleen Gundlach After 10 years and over 30 issues, Ruth Melville has put on her Norfolk Now editor’s hat for the last time. In June, the paper marked the end of an era with the publication of Ruth’s final issue as one of the executive editors […]

  • A Look Into Norfolk’s Past

    Exhibit Explores Pupin’s Haven of Happiness on Westside Road By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Historical Museum graces Norfolk’s village green with the reserve and understated elegance of a New Englander well worth getting to know. Visitors who step inside will find exhibits that tell the stories of the town’s past, often with intriguing ties to […]

  • Norfolk Past and Present

    The Summer Chapel Eases Gracefully Into Its 130 Years By Elizabeth Bailey Ayreslea Rowland Denny began attending services at The Church of the Transfiguration in Norfolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. A New Yorker, she was a student at the Chapin School in New York City, but her family had been […]

  • Church Steeple Shines Once Again

    Local dignitaries and friends of Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational gathered on Saturday, May 25, to formally celebrate the completion of the steeple restoration project. The Rev. Erick Olsen thanked the community for supporting the years-long effort and welcomed everyone to enjoy a splendid cake featuring an image of the steeple.

  • Making the Native… Personal

    Cheryl Heller Builds a Wild Garden in Norfolk By Joe Kelly Gardens are best when they’re personal, argued the late Fred McGourty, who remains Norfolk’s best- known plantsmen. McGourty’s 1989 book, “The Perennial Gardener,” recounts the gardens he and his wife, Mary Ann, created at Hillside, their home near Dennis Hill State Park. Were he […]

  • This Old Norfolk House

    Stevens House By Joe KellyWhen our Puritan forebears arrived on these shores in the early 1600s, they were no doubt surprised todiscover how the traditional thatched roof cottages they knew from back home were no match for thewind and cold of a typical New England winter. But it would have likely surprised them even more […]

  • Can wildlife safely cross Norfolk’s Roads?

    By Shelley Harms Where are animals crossing Norfolk’s roads? Are they making it across? Is it possible to make theircrossings safer? Julia Rogers, Senior Land Protection Manager at the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), helped agroup of interested Norfolk residents explore these questions at a training session sponsored by theNorfolk Land Trust on March 22 at […]

  • Great Mountain Forest’s New Executive Director Returns to His Connecticut Roots

    By David Beers Mike Zarfos started his new position as executive director of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) at the end ofFebruary. It has been a lively time for Zarfos and his family; in addition to moving from Washington,D.C., to Connecticut, they are expecting a baby in April. Zarfos grew up in Deep River, Conn., where […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    In the late 19th century, the arrival of every train at the depot on Station Place was widely anticipated.There were freight trains, milk trains and passenger trains unloading throngs of summer visitors. Theattractive station pictured here was built in 1898, replacing an earlier modest structure. Constructed ofnative granite, it was designed by Hill & Turner, […]

  • Focus on New Firehouse shifts to funding

    Costs likely to rise beyond initial $5 million estimate By Joe Kelly After months of sometimes contentious public hearings, plans for a new Norfolk firehouse are nearing the end of the wetlands/zoning part of the approval process and heading into a decisive new phase: finding the money to pay for it all. The Planning & […]

Articles

New Head Chef at Infinity Bistro

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo If Infinity Bistro has fallen out of your lineup for weekend dining options, it’s time to bring it back. The hot, freshly baked bread and garlic butter are good indicators of what flavorsome items are to come. The pulled chicken tacos, one of the best-selling items on the menu, are worth […]

Town Meeting Planned for November 14

Refinancing old debt and taking on a new loan   At the selectmen’s meeting on October 4, First Selectman Sue Dyer announced plans to call a town meeting in November. Resolutions will be presented to refinance the town’s existing debt and to borrow additional money to purchase trucks. The town is carrying somewhat less than […]

Alfredo Taylor’s 1905 Decorative Railing Lamps Again Illuminate Village

  by Michael Kelly Long before Route 44 became the speedway it is for cars and trucks whizzing through the heart of the village, most people entered and departed Norfolk deliberately, by way of the railroad. Passengers sharing comfortable parlor cars could hop on and off at 23 stations as the train meandered along steel […]

Tiffany Sunrise Off for Repairs

Community Foundation Helps With Costs   By Shelley Harms The first phase of Battell Chapel’s stained glass windows project took a surprising turn in early October. Original plans called for the large center altar window, by Maitland Armstrong, to be restored first. David Maitland Armstrong was one of the foremost stained glass artists of the gilded […]

Not Your Mother’s Exercise Class

Norfolk seniors get moving with Robyn Centrella By Joanne Hohmeister Did you know that Norfolk provides a free exercise class for any senior citizen who wants or needs some extra exercise in their lives?  At Meadowbrook Apartments, a certified Senior Fitness Specialist (ACE) , Robyn Centrella, who also teaches in New Hartford, Torrington, Harwinton and […]

Some Trick-or-Treaters Get an Early Start

They tumbled out of the van and drifted across the parking lot of the Meadowbrook Apartments—a shark, a skeleton, several butterflies, a ghost, a dinosaur, a clown, a princess. Leading them in Wonder Woman costume was Kailyn Nadeau, co-director of the Norfolk Early Learning Center. This was the daycare’s annual trick-or-treat outing for three- and […]

Norfolk’s Input Sought on Regional Development Plan

  No regional plan exists for the 21 towns in northwest Connecticut that are served by the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG). The council was formed in January 2014 by the consolidation of two earlier regional planning organizations and has now turned for the first time to the task of formulating its Regional Plan […]

At Northwestern Regional High School, the Band’s All Here

  By Ruth Melville In music education circles, the music program at Northwestern Regional High School has long been acknowledged to be one of the finest in the state, if not the region. Three times, in 2000, 2006 and 2015, the Northwestern high school band has been chosen the top ensemble at the Connecticut Music […]

Snapping Turtles Hatch on Public Beach at Tobey Pond

  By Jude Mead On the muggy evening of Saturday, September 10, Tobey Pond was surprisingly quiet. It was the last weekend of the season, yet only a handful of us took advantage of the hot weather to visit the town beach. But instead of cooling in the water or lolling on our beach towels, […]

Coal Oil Tank Behind Library Safely Unearthed

Environmental effects are being monitored   By Michael Kelly During excavation for the Norfolk Library’s new handicapped access ramp, pipes were unearthed that led to a mysterious gas tank buried behind the library’s great room. After much head-scratching and research, it was determined that the tank was part of a then-sophisticated 19th-century technology that, before […]

Economic Development Consultant Nears End of Contract

Firm receives mixed grades from Norfolk businesses   By Wiley Wood Two years ago, with the Corner Store shuttered and half of the old hardware store unoccupied, it came as good news to Norfolk residents that the regional council was hiring an economic development consultant to help Norfolk and seven other Northwest Connecticut towns revitalize […]

A Portrait of Two Equestrians

It Takes More Than Money to Ride   by Courtney Maum There’s a saying that the way to heaven is on horseback, but even veteran riders would admit that the journey is expensive. Happily, the careers of two local trainers prove that passion and moxie can make up for what your bank account might lack. […]