• Sweets on the Green

    A Decade of Decadent Desserts By Andra Moss How is your naughty versus nice rating? Those needing to influence Santa with an especially impressive treat should grab their stockings and head to the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) for the 10th Annual Cake Auction on Saturday, Dec. 7.     Now a Norfolk holiday tradition, the event was […]

  • Artist Tom Burr Brings His Torrington Project to an End

    Performances celebrate studio closing By Stephen Melville Norfolk resident and artist Tom Burr organized a day of performances and exhibition at his studio in Torrington on Oct. 26, marking an end to what he has called “The Torrington Project.” For the past three and a half years, Burr has rented a vast—15,000 square foot—former industrial […]

  • New Meanings for a Monument

    Light Shines on the Memorial Green By Joe Kelly On Monday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, a crowd of about 100 gathered for the rededication of Norfolk’s World War 1 memorial, artfully restored under the auspices of the Norfolk Community Association. It was sunny. Temperatures in the low ‘60’s. Another day of no rain. Everyone talked […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1920s postcard shows Memorial Green just after the War Memorial, designed by Alfredo Taylor, was built. It was Taylor’s wife Minna who first proposed that a memorial “heroes grove” be planted on the small lot of land known as the Triangle opposite the Catholic Church. The lot had been left empty with the demolition […]

  • Restored war memorial to be celebrated on veterans day

    plaque now honors all who served By Patricia Platt A World War I monument, designed by Alfredo Taylor and erected on Norfolk’s Memorial Green in 1921, bears the inscription, “for those who gave and those who offered their lives for liberty, the people of Norfolk have built this monument and crowned it with the Liberty […]

  • NLT Tail Ablaze with Runners

    More than 120 runners enjoyed perfect fall weather as they wound their way through picturesque Barbour Woods in the 11th Annual Norfolk Land Trust Trail Race. Some chose to add a challenging loop over Haystack Mountain, while the half-marathoners just kept moving on up—topping out at over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. *photo by June […]

  • Can you spot the Real Curler?

    There was movie magic ice to be made, and the pros of the Norfolk Curling Club were the first to get the call. In October, NCC’s Jon Barbagallo, Lou Barbagallo, Rachel Barbagallo, Mark Walsh, Harvey Chalmers and Phill West were hired by a production company to make curling ice at a Rhode Island hockey rink […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This 1917 photograph is a timely reminder of the long struggle fought by many dedicated women for basic civil liberties, including the right to own property, hold public office, sit on juries, participate in public assemblies and vote. The group of 25 suffragists—20 women and five men—gathered on the porch following their meeting with Congressman […]

  • The chicken who wanted to be a star and other tales from a norfolk movie set

    By Andra Moss Secrets and small towns don’t often pair well, and Norfolk is a small town. Yet, for eight weeks this summer, a crew of nearly 100 people quietly transformed Tim and Paula Webster’s 1908 Norfolk farmhouse into a film set for a feature-length production, all the while staying under the local radar.  It […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

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. […]

Old-Time General Store Opens in Salisbury

White Hart Provisions   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo “Would you like a homemade soda?” is a question I have been asked zero times in my life, but that offering, and other nostalgic touches, is what welcomed me to White Hart Provisions in Salisbury last week. Stepping into the new general store and café at the […]

Artifact of Another Era Found During Renovation of Library

  Excavation uncovers forgotten gas tank   By Michael Kelly Norfolk Library patrons, inconvenienced by excavation of the parking lot to make way for a new, more accessible handicapped entrance, will have to scramble for parking space a bit longer than expected. After a successful, aesthetically pleasing restoration of the terra-cotta tile roof to its former […]

Town Approves Convenience Store Plan

Stannard to withdraw suit   By Wiley Wood On Monday, August 29, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a plan for the proposed convenience store and deli at 6 Station Place, following a public hearing at which many town residents spoke urging approval. The store’s operator, Ryan Craig, and the building’s owner, the Norfolk Foundation, […]

The All-Volunteer Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance Service Is Always On Call

Help Whenever You Need It     By Ruth Melville The Lions Club is an international secular service organization founded in 1917. Their motto is “We Serve,” and it would be hard to find a better description of the Norfolk Lions Club. The Norfolk Lions Club is an invaluable organization that provides help to the […]

Norfolk Filmmaker’s “Bob and the Trees” Leads Off Series of Independent Films at the Norfolk Library

  By Ruth Melville “Bob and the Trees” is a film about a middle-aged logger in a rural town in western Massachusetts who struggles to make a living over the course of a harsh winter. Although fictional, the movie has the quiet attention to ordinary life of a fly-on-the-wall documentary. This fall, the film’s director, […]

Valentino Takes the Reins

Botelle School has a new principal   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Lauren Valentino started her new job as principal of Botelle School on July 1. She was unanimously selected for the position by a search committee made up of Board of Education members, parents and teachers. Valentino is the fourth principal at Botelle in the […]

Fourth Annual Norfolk Car Show at New Venue

Yale in Norfolk opens their grounds to raise funds for Emergency Services   By Colleen Gundlach Vintage cars will line the austere campus of Yale in Norfolk and the sounds of music, laughter and fun will ring out as the Fourth Annual Norfolk Classic Community Car Show moves its venue to the Music Shed parking […]

Frequent Sightings of Bears This Summer Alarm and Intrigue Norfolk Residents

    By Jude Mead I am sitting at my deck on a quiet sunny afternoon. The birds are chirping. The breeze is light and warm. I am sipping fresh homemade lemonade. Suddenly, from around the corner of my house appears a large black bear that begins to climb the stairs toward my front door […]

Discover Norfolk Treasures “Hidden in Plain Sight” at the Historical Society

Exhibit Highlights Golden Age   By Leila Javitch “Hidden in Plain Sight” is the name of the current exhibition at the Norfolk Historical Society. That title also describes this treasure of a show. Everyone with any interest in Norfolk should see it before it closes in mid-October. The exhibition focuses on the artists, artisans and […]

Students at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Get Their Start in the GMF Woods

Summer Camp With a Purpose   By David Beers For three weeks every summer, the Yale Summer School of Art and Music is not the only university program in town. Few are aware that every August about 160 Yale forestry students are also in Norfolk, learning while tromping through Great Mountain Forest (GMF). These students […]