• 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

Dormant for Three Years, Church Bells Ring Again

“Like a setting of opal and gold”   By Michael Kelly Whether in the garden admiring your horticultural handiwork, exiting the library with an armload of books or entering your car at the post office, you may suddenly hear a comforting sound trickling out of the sky reminding you of just where you are. After […]

Enhancing the Norfolk Food Pantry

As we are in the height of growing season, many local farms are overloaded with various types of produce—tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, greens, corn, etc. The farmers at Husky Meadows Farm on Doolittle Drive are no exception, and a major concern for them is making sure that all of this produce gets utilized by the […]

Planning and Zoning Approves Convenience Store and Deli Application

Community sends strong message of support at public hearing   By Wiley Wood Norfolk came a step closer to having a convenience store and deli at 6 Station Place when the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the site plan at a public hearing on July 19. “That was one of the biggest hurdles,” said […]

Summer Interns at Great Mountain Forest

Planning for the future   By Hans M. Carlson Outside of the Great Mountain Forest (GMF) administrative offices, this summer’s interns are building a small raised-bed garden after work. It’s a bit late in the season, but even if they don’t get much of a yield this year, the bed will be ready for next […]

New Owners of Brotherhood Property Sue Norfolk Over Taxes

The Confucian Study Association, owner of the former Deerspring Bruderhof compound on West Side Road, is suing the Town of Norfolk in Litchfield Superior Court for exemption from property taxes. The organization, formed in January of this year, took ownership of the 48-acre parcel in March and applied to the town for tax exemption. Assessor […]

Report From the Real Russia

Former NPR correspondent Anne Garrels publishes book on the Russian heartland By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo “Those were the very best of days,” says Anne Garrels of the early 1990s when her husband, Vint Lawrence, went to Russia to visit her for six weeks every three months. “He couldn’t work on his drawings because there was […]

Lively Line-up at “Weekend In Norfolk” Festival

More Music and Live Performances than Ever Before   By Holly Leibrock Norfolk is a hub of outstanding talent and exceptional performance venues. Weekend in Norfolk (WIN) has capitalized on these talents and venues to offer storytelling, acting and more musical performances in one weekend than ever before at its locally renowned Infinity Hall and […]

Trail Running Club Meets Every Thursday

Heading for the Hills   By Jude Mead If you happen to be wandering in the woods of Norfolk, you may come across a group of runners from the Hill County Trail Runners Club. Nothing stops these outdoor enthusiasts from meeting every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to enjoy the popular sport called trail running. They […]

Church Work Camp Travels to Camden, New York

Serving Those in Need   By David Beers On June 19, an excited group of 28 people ranging in age from 12 to 50-something, headed out for a week of work and camaraderie in Camden, New York. Some had gone on this annual trip (organized and led by Reverend Erick Olsen of Church of Christ […]

“Unbridled” Art Show at the Norfolk Library

Bevan Ramsay’s Recent Sculpture Addresses the Sexualization of Girls’ Toys   By Ruth Melville   “Unbridled,” Bevan Ramsay’s show of recent sculpture at the Norfolk Library, might initially be startling to some viewers. The sculptures are made, not from traditional materials like stone or metal or wood, but out of globs of plaster painted bright […]

Notables – Professor Pupin

  By Ryan Bachman By the end of the 19th century, the arrival of warm temperatures in Norfolk signaled the coming of “The Summer People”. These part-time residents regularly arrived via train as the mountain laurel bloomed and the days became longer. The majority of Norfolk’s summertime residents came from New York City in search […]

The Berkshire Rambler

Crane Paper Company: Seven Generations of Making Money   By Michael Kelly High quality paper has been an intrinsic part of the lives of the Crane family of Dalton, Mass. for almost 250 years. Stephen Crane started the business, making 100 percent cotton paper at the Liberty Mill in Milton, Mass., which Paul Revere printed […]