• Norfolk Crowds Return to New Farmers Market

    By Andra Moss The crowd was large, loud and loving it at July’s Northwest Farm to Fork farmers market, held under the pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. “We were very pleased with the turnout, with approximately 230 customers coming through and 16 food and farm vendors,” says Lisa Auclair, a co-founder, with Devin Grosso and […]

  • Friday Night on the Green Celebrates America’s 250th

    July 3 was a picture-perfect night for the community-wide event cel-ebrating America’s Independence. Following a quick parade, picnickers enjoyed burgers and ice cream while judges dug into the entries in the pie baking contest. First Selectman Hen-ry Tirrell moved seamlessly from his welcome speech to the dunk tank, and a few folks, like Pete Sanders […]

  • NORFOLK REMEMBERS Laurene Mary Wallace

    Laurene Mary Wallace, 77, of Colebrook passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Friday, July 10, 2026. Laurene was born on April 28, 1949, in Bridgeport, the last of four children born to the late Lawrence and Irene (Misencik) Firmender of Stratford. A retired registered nurse, Laurene’s career in nursing and cardiac rehabilitation […]

  • Norfolk Remembers Sally Sterling Ellis Quale

    Sally Sterling Ellis Quale, of Norfolk and St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Bronxville, N.Y., died unexpectedly of heart failure on July 7 at the age of 87. Sally will be remembered for her deep commitment to her family and communities and for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, creativity … and, of course, for her beautiful smile […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    This charming house, still standing on the west side of Litchfield Rd., was built in 1905 for Richmond Paine, the newly appointed conductor of the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU). Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel engaged the architect Ehrick Rossiter to design the house for Paine as well as the Music Shed for performances by […]

  • Norfolk’s Newest Neighborhood Puts Down Roots

    Haystack Woods lauded as a “model for the state” By Joe Kelly Norfolk’s newest neighborhood, the Haystack Woods affordable housing development, has officially come to life. A year ago, the 39-acre location—a former gravel pit off Old Colony Road—was little more than a muddy building site. Now construction of the 10, two- and three-bedroom homes […]

  • Winsted Church Auctions Tiffany Window for $1.25 Million

    Sale highlights women’s role in Tiffany designs By Joe Kelly When medieval architects found ways to build taller cathedrals, the techniques they developed also made possible the enormous stained-glass windows that we so enjoy today, such as at Chartres and Sainte-Chapelle in France and Canterbury Cathedral in England. American-made stained glass is more recent, dating […]

  • A Revolutionary Year

    1776 Norfolk explored in summer exhibition By Andra Moss Communities across the country are looking back with wonder at 1776, the year that 13 British colonies initiated a revolution that, against astonishing odds, led to the birth of an independent republic. In Norfolk, two curators have combed the Norfolk Historical Society’s (NHS) collection for colonial-era […]

  • SUMMER MUSIC: Familiar Quartets, New Composers at Yale Chamber Festival

    By Patricia Platt The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, running from July 3 until Aug. 22, will present an exciting season of classical, innovative and international music. This summer, the Brentano Quartet, Shanghai Quartet, Ying Quartet and the Horszowski Trio are among those who will perform during weekend concerts and serve as artist-in-residence mentors to the […]

  • Botelle Students Move Up

    By Avice Meehan Four sixth graders bid farewell to Botelle Elementary School at a laughter-filled, but occasionally serious, ceremony on June 16 that was attended by family, friends and town officials. First Selectmen Henry Tirrell, a Botelle graduate whose mother and aunt taught at the school for many years, reminded the students that they would […]

  • Norfolk Rail-Trail Project Pedals Forward

    By Jude Mead After more than a decade of planning, permiting and redesign work, Norfolk’s long-await-ed Rails-to-Trails initiative has reached a major milestone, bringing the community closer to the creation of a new multi-use recreational trail along a historic railroad corridor. The project is the North Brook Trail, a planned three-quarter-mile ADA-accessi-ble pathway that will […]

  • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Budgets, Beetles, Nips and More

    By Avice Meehan State Rep. Maria Horn came prepared to share details about the Connecticut budget (she is co-chair of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee) and the progress that has been made toward paying down the state’s unfunded pension liability, increasing the rainy day fund (now up to $18 billion) and allocating more state funds […]

Articles

Historical Society Commemorates Norfolk’s Role in the Great War

Norfolk Natives “Over There”   By Michael Kelly While the war was raging for three years on the European continent, the United States was determined to stay out of a conflagration between nations nursing centuries-old antipathies and animosities. But a groundswell of nationalistic support fomented by adventurous, upper-class American scions eager to test their mettle […]

New Planters Adorn Station Place

This pole planter in front of the Arcanum Building, with its profusion of purple and lavender petunias, is one of several new planters in town, courtesy of the hard work of the members of the Norfolk Community Association. This year the association added 11 pole planters to Station Place and Route 44, in addition to […]

Consolidation of Roman Catholic Parishes Brings Hope for the Future

Immaculate Conception Church becomes St. Martin of Tours   By Colleen Gundlach On June 29, the Immaculate Conception Church in Norfolk underwent not only a change in name but a change in structure. When Catholic Archbishop Leonard P. Blair announced in May that the number of parishes in the archdiocese would be reduced, the fear […]

Where Are All These Bears Coming From?

A wildlife biologist separates fact from fiction   By Wiley Wood Black bear sightings are underreported in Norfolk. That’s what Town Clerk Linda Perkins thinks, anyway. She is on a campaign to get Norfolk residents to call the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)when they see a bear. “If you look at DEEP’s black […]

Northwest Hills Council of Governments

Collaboration as the Key to Success   By Ruth Melville In Connecticut, as opposed to most states, the primary unit of local government is not the county but the town. This structure gives more autonomy to each of the 169 towns in the state, but it also makes regional cooperation and planning more difficult. To […]

Garden Conservancy Opens Two Secluded Norfolk Gardens

Guests welcomed to visit, admire and enjoy the beauty on July 15   By Michael Kelly There is something evocative, almost romantic, about a secret garden. What resplendent botanical wonders perfume desultory breezes from behind the garden wall, or peek demurely over closed, enigmatic garden gates, or generate panoplies of burgeoning color around the back […]

Fresh Faces to Lead Norfolk Ambulance

Group selects new roster of officers   By Leila Javitch The Norfolk Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team is complex but flexible group of highly trained individuals. It is really unique in that it is only one of a half dozen ambulance crews in the state that remain completely volunteer and charge no fees for services. […]

Recollections of Norfolk and Colombia

Living in South America after a Norfolk childhood   By Kati Hinman Since moving away from Norfolk, I´ve always been proud of my small town background. I can’t count the number of times people have asked “did you say twelve HUNDRED!” or “but how can you not have a grocery store?” When I moved abroad, […]

Without a Car in Norfolk? You Might Try Renting

  By David Beers When solving a lack of wheels, the first option to my mind is car rental. Most of us are familiar with renting a car at an airport. However, this option is also available in our area. In Torrington, there are two national car rental chain businesses: Enterprise and Hertz. Both offer […]

Norfolk NET Receives $20,000 Grant

  Funds to help residents with basic emergency assistance   By Kelly Kandra Hughes Norfolk NET (Networking Everyone Together), a collaborative grassroots effort to alleviate poverty and strengthen community relationships in Norfolk, has been generously awarded a $20,000 grant from the William and Mary Greve Foundation. According to Norfolk resident Tony Kiser, president of the […]

Holistic Health Counselor to Appear at Norfolk Farmers Market

Terry Walters, author of three best-selling cookbooks, “Eat Clean, Live Well,” “Clean Food” and “Clean Start” returns to the Norfolk Farmers Market on July 24 for a cooking demonstration and book signing. A well-known holistic health counselor, food educator and motivational speaker, she serves on the Board of Directors for Urban Oaks Organic Farm, one […]

Christina Vanderlip Awarded a First Prize in Garden Club Show

Implying National Parks in Floral Design   By Colleen Gundlach Norfolk’s Christina Vanderlip was honored with a first place award in the Litchfield Garden Club’s Flower Show on June 9. The theme of this show was “Our National Parks—America’s Best Idea.” Entrants were given a phrase to interpret in the media of floral design, horticulture […]