• 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

Proposed Firehouse Advances to Planning and Zoning Commission

Public hearing set for Nov. 14 By Joe Kelly Plans for a new Norfolk firehouse have received financial backing from the State of Connecticut and approval from the town’s Inland Wetlands Agency—two milestones for a project that could reshape Norfolk’s emergency response capabilities for years to come. Attention now shifts to Norfolk’s Planning and Zoning […]

Two Wheels Bicycles Gears Up in Sheffield

Route 7 shop offers repair and rentals By Andra Moss Norfolk residents will be able to take on the town’s notorious hills with greater ease thanks to a new electric bicycle rental and repair shop just over the Massachusetts border in Sheffield. Those still clinging to the dream of analog, zero-assist bicycles can also rent […]

Future of Norfolk Farmers Market Uncertain, For Now

Long-time head steps down, replacement sought By Michael Cobb Norfolk Farmers Market Manager Lisa Auclair and Market Master Angie Bollard have resigned, leaving both positions open and plans up in the air for next season’s market. Doug McDevitt, Norfolk Farmers Market co-chair, commends their years of commitment, saying, “These individuals have put their hearts and […]

Norfolk Literary Event Hits Its Stride

Haystack Book Festival explores far-ranging topics By Joe Kelly From a small conversation six years ago with a biographer of the poet John Ashberry, Norfolk’s Haystack Book Festival has evolved into a multi-day exploration that remains true to its roots in literature but now ranges into criticism, religion, history, foreign affairs, journalism, domestic politics and […]

Community in Action

Haystack Woods Development Moves Forward By Avice Meehan Sixteen years after the idea first surfaced, the affordable housing development off Old Colony Road is approaching a major milestone: completion of site prep work and road construction. A first coat of asphalt should be laid down before winter if all goes according to plan. The project […]

View From the Green

How did we shape up? By Colleen Gundlach When something momentous happens in a town, it sometimes begins quietly, without fanfare, and quite innocuously. Then slowly, like a snowball rolling down a hill, it gains girth and strength until it becomes a vital source of information and communication in the lives of the townspeople. Such […]

Coston Recognized at “20 Over 50” Honoree

Editor-in-chief of the Lakeville Journal and Millerton News is honored By Carol Kneeland  John Coston, editor-in-chief of The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News, is one of 20 journalists over the age of 50 to be recognized in the Sept. 1 edition of the trade publication Editor & Publisher (E&P). E&P Editor Robin Blinder wrote […]

Director Brings Film of Overlooked Champion for the Environment to Norfolk

By Andra Moss A documentary highlighting the life and legacy of environmentalist and former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall will be shown on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 3 p.m., at the Norfolk Library. Director John de Graaf will introduce his film, “Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty,” and will participate in a discussion and Q&A […]

Norfolk Salutes Its Volunteers: Spotlight on the Norfolk Community Association

Barry Webber & Doreen Kelly Barry Webber Giving back and supporting one’s community has always been a strong calling for me. I’d lived in Norfolk for only two weeks when Sue Dooley hooked me in to help with the Mandy Patinkin concert to benefit Prime Time House—an organization I spent more than 10 years working […]

Up Up and Away

Leaf-Peeping From the Sky By Jude Mead One way to see the fall foliage is hot air ballooning, and Spirit Ballooning LLC is ready to guide you above the colorful display of leaves in Norfolk. The locally owned and operated hot air balloon adventure company (spiritballooning.com) is based in North Canaan. Darrel Long, owner and […]

This Old Norfolk House

The Grant Homestead By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo When we were looking at houses in Norfolk about 20 years ago, there were three homes on the market for under one million dollars: two charming but overpriced Victorians in the center of town and a 244-year-old colonial on the Winchester Center town line that looked like it […]

Out and About: New Yoga Studio in Winsted Welcomes All Levels of Experience

By David Beers It is Friday evening and I am unfolding my tense body on the floor of a storefront in downtown Winsted, which is not the typical thing to be doing on Main Street. At the corner of Elm and Main, two doors down from Rooted Market, is Earthbound Yogi, a new yoga studio […]