• 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

Torrington Yarn Bomb Brings Color, Art and Whimsy to the City

  By Julie Scharnberg   I read an article about yarn bombing that appeared in Yankee Magazine about four years ago and passed it around to some knitters, thinking, Who wouldn’t want to do this? How fun! Yarn bombing is a form of temporary street art where brightly colored yarn in any form—knitted, crocheted, woven, […]

New Town of Norfolk Website Goes Online

Community input still needed   By Wiley Wood If you’ve got it, flaunt it. That was the basic idea behind the drive to create a new website for the Town of Norfolk. The old website was handsome but drab, functional in concept, embellished with photos by a local photographer, but its information was often stale […]

Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art Students Hear from Mentors and Peers

Learning by Example     By Ruth Melville Since its inception 67 years ago, the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art has presented a series of artists’ lectures as an integral component of its program. For the past years 17 years, the art school, which is based in the Art Barn on the Ellen Battell […]

Norfolk Summer Style

  Action-Packed Relaxation with Kids in Mind   By Holly Leibrock Summer is finally here and no one understands a “Norfolk Summer” better than the town’s children. Tobey Pond is the town’s centerpiece throughout the dog days of summer. Officially opened on June 6, Tobey Pond provides a great place to swim, fish or picnic. […]

Public Hearing on Convenience Store

At its June 14 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission accepted a revised site plan and special permit applications from Ryan Craig, the operator of a convenience store and deli proposed for 6 Station Place (the old hardware store building). A public hearing has been set for the P&Z’s next regular meeting, on July 12, […]

Land Trust Opens New Trail

Pine Mountain Hike Is Accessible for All Ages   By David Beers In 2013, the Norfolk Land Trust purchased 311 acres of forestland north of the Mad River from the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. Over the past three years, Land Trust volunteers have been developing an extensive trail system on the property that connects with […]

Norfolk Celebrates Norfolk

Weekend in Norfolk will highlight the town’s best   By Colleen Gundlach When everyone involved reaches his or her goal and everyone profits in some way, it is colloquially called a win-win situation. Win is just what Norfolk is poised to do in a few weeks when residents and visitors alike benefit as Weekend in […]

Scandal and Bribery Tainted State Senate Election of 1856

A Look into Norfolk’s Past   By Ryan Bachman With 2016 an election year, news stories alleging shady political deals and corruption abound, but stories such as these are nothing new. In 1856, Norfolk was the scene of a political scandal that shocked citizens all over Litchfield County. That spring, tensions over social issues like […]

Convenience Store and Deli Proposed for 6 Station Place

Neighboring business owners voice opposition   By Wiley Wood Since the Corner Store closed two years ago, Norfolk residents have had to travel 20 minutes to a neighboring town to buy a quart of milk, a bag of charcoal, or a tube of toothpaste. But on Tuesday, May 24, the Planning and Zoning Commission held […]

Stocking Food Banks for the Summer

Local high school student supplies food for local food pantries   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo While the average high school student may welcome summer because of all the freedoms and personal indulgences it affords, one Norfolk teenager sees summer as an opportunity to be completely selfless. Sophomore Morgan Daley recently started “Full for the Summer,” […]

Thoughts Along the Chattleton Road at Great Mountain Forest

  By Hans M. Carlson The road at Great Mountain Forest’s (GMF) west gate is a new spur off an older thoroughfare. Jean’s Trail is the intersection, and from there the old Chattleton Road once ran down behind where Rustling Winds Stables is now. It still goes south to Meekertown in the other direction, but […]

The Challenges and Joys of Owning a Small Farm

  Not for the Faint of Heart   By Ruth Melville People like the idea of local farms. They enjoy seeing cows grazing in a field or the piles of fresh vegetables on the table at the farmers market. But they are less likely to appreciate the amount of work that goes into starting a […]