• 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

Town Offers Free Training in Mental Health First Aid

  By Ruth Melville We are all familiar with the idea of offering first aid for physical injuries, from Band-Aids to the Heimlich maneuver to CPR. But what about first aid for mental distress? What would you do if confronted by a person having a panic attack? What aid or advice would you feel competent […]

Without a Car in Norfolk? Call a Chauffeur!

By David Beers On a sunny Saturday morning, two friends and I met at the Berkshire Country Store to make a trip to Winsted. I pulled out my phone and used my Uber app to call up a ride. (I also have a Lyft app, but Lyft does not have a presence yet in northwest […]

Board of Finance Struggles to Keep Spending Down

Increases outnumber cuts   By Wiley Wood On Monday, April 24, the Board of Finance held its annual budget hearing and presented a provisional budget for the next fiscal year. Despite a general effort to keep costs down, spending will go up slightly in the coming year and the mill rate will increase from 22.09 […]

City Meadow Finally Ready for Its Makeover

Construction to start in late June   By Wiley Wood The City Meadow project cleared its final regulatory hurdle at a public hearing on April 25 when the Planning and Zoning Commission approved an application for an earth excavation permit, as required by town statutes for projects of more than 250 cubic yards. The construction […]

Our Native Wildlife Needs Native Plants

  By Shelley Harms Ah, spring in Norfolk! Frog choruses, birdsong, green leaves and . . . burgeoning invasive plants. It’s time to pull up the garlic mustard and chop out those invasive shrubs like honeysuckle, barberry and burning bush. Alien invasive plants are spreading all over town—they are probably growing in your own backyard. […]

No Car? Try Hopping the Bus!

  By David Beers For whatever reason, you find yourself without access to a car in Norfolk. Should you stay home until you have access to a car again? Should you beg friends and family to borrow their car, or at least to give you a ride? This is a disconcerting prospect in a small […]

Norfolk’s Newest Foundation Begins Work on ‘Norfolk Hub’

Pedestrian access, arts events and coordination between nonprofits are group’s focus   By Wiley Wood For a new kid on the block, the Norfolk Foundation (NF) has an outsized presence in town. Incorporated as a nonprofit in fall 2015, it now owns two key pieces of commercial real estate in the village center: 6 Station […]

Historical Society’s Summer Exhibit

“Norfolk in the Great War” opens May 27   On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the Great War, and life in Norfolk changed quickly. The Eldridge Gymnasium (now Town Hall) became an armory and the setting for outdoor drills with a rifle range set up on the rocky ledge behind Fox Hill, home […]

William Eggers Loves to Make Stuff

  By Ruth Melville When Bill Eggers was 10 years old, he took the motor out of the family lawnmower and put it into a little wooden car he had built himself. A policeman brought him home and complained to his mother that he had been going 50 miles an hour on the highway. She […]

Botelle Students Perform ‘Charlotte’s Web’

By Lauren Valentino The curtain rose for Botelle School’s performance of “Charlotte’s Web” on Thursday, April 6 and the audience—young, old and in-between—was entertained by this long-time favorite story of an unlikely friendship between a young pig and a wise spider. Directed by Bruce Connelly and Elizabeth Allyn as part of the Norfolk After School […]

The Nuts, Bolts and Tools to Start Your Own Business

The Entrepreneurial Center of Northwest Connecticut offers training and support By Colleen Gundlach With increasing technology and internet access, more and more people are leaving traditional jobs to pursue the dream of owning their own businesses. Going solo into a new business can be a difficult, time-consuming and expensive endeavor, but a new program at […]

The Murky Origin of Norfolk Street Names

  By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo For one of the largest towns in the state (geographically), there are relatively few roads in Norfolk, and the ingenuity in their naming is generally at a minimum. Many street names denote their ultimate destination—Bald Mountain, Goshen East, Litchfield, Meekertown, North Colebrook, South Sandisfield, State Line and Winchester, for example, […]