• 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

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 […]

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 […]