• 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

Stannard Sues Town Over Convenience Store

New public hearing to be held on August 29 at 6:30 p.m.   By Wiley Wood The town was served a summons on August 8 in a suit brought by Joseph Stannard against the Norfolk Planning and Zoning Commission. The suit appealed the commission’s recent approval of a site plan application for converting the building at […]

Levitations by Gil Eisner

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 […]