• 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

Local Roasters Think Globally

Giv Coffee Blends Profits and Philanthropy By Ruth Melville You may have noticed a new stand at the winter farmers markets in Town Hall. Since February, Emily and Jeff Brooks, of Giv Coffee in Torrington, have begun bringing their colorful bags of freshly roasted coffee to sell at the market. The Brookses are passionate about […]

Changes at the Susan B. Anthony Project in Torrington

Barbara Spiegel Retiring After 20 Years as Executive Director By Jude Mead Barbara Spiegel, the executive director of the Susan B. Anthony Project (SBAP), has lived by the organization’s mission to “[promote] safety, healing, and growth for all survivors of domestic and sexual abuse and [advocate] for the autonomy of women and the end of […]

It Takes a Lot of Dedicated People to Care for a Village

Jonathan Barbagallo wears a lot of hats in emergency services By Colleen Gundlach The fire at the Norfolk Curling Club on December 18, 2011, was devastating for Norfolk as a whole, but was beyond description for the first responders that night. Since Norfolk’s volunteer base is a small group of people who wear many hats, […]

Hartford Balks at Norfolk-Colebrook Regional Plan

By Wiley Wood The current legislative session in Hartford lasts until June 3, but it seems unlikely that the State Department of Education will endorse a proposal between now and then that will allow the Norfolk-Colebrook regionalization plan to proceed. The two towns have worked for three years on an agreement that would allow them […]

Botelle School’s Annual Drama Production

Bruce Connelly Enters His 13th Year as Writer and Director By Anne Frieze On March 27, the Botelle School’s fourth, fifth and sixth graders put on two performances of their annual drama production, “The Wind in the Willows.” Each year the New York-based actor and director Bruce Connelly writes an original script based on a […]

The Importance of Climate Resiliency in Land Preservation

Recent Lecture Highlights the Crucial Role of Land Trusts By Veronica Burns On March 7, Libby Borden, president of the Norfolk Land Trust, welcomed two speakers from the Open Space Institute (OSI) to talk about land conservation at the Norfolk Curling Club. The event was focused on climate change and novel strategies for land protection. […]

Funding Sought for Workforce Training Program

Young people leave the Northwest Corner because there are no jobs. And employers find the qualified workforce pretty thin. A new initiative, endorsed by the Board of Selectmen, would document the workforce skills needed by regional employers and coordinate with high schools, trade schools, community colleges and universities to see that appropriate training is available. […]

Town Starts Repair of Aging Sewer Pipes

The Norfolk Sewer District will reline the sewer pipes along Laurel Way this season. Green Mountain Pipeline Services of Vermont has been picked to perform the work, at a cost of $50–60,000, said Ronald Zanobi, chairman of the Sewer District, at a January 28 meeting. Norfolk’s sewer pipes are among the oldest in Connecticut. The […]

Back to Drawing Board for City Meadow Park

Construction faces at least six-month delay By Christopher Sinclair The project to transform the sunken wetland in Norfolk’s town center into a park and storm-water treatment site has been rebuffed by state and federal permitting authorities, according to Steven Trinkaus, the project’s consulting engineer. The plan received a $500,000 state grant in September 2014. It […]

Canaan Resident’s Salon Helps Women With Hair Loss

Lori Ustico Never Gives Up By Ruth Melville It is a cliché to say that someone “lives her life for others,” but in the case of Canaan resident Lori Ustico, it is the simple truth. Ustico owns Dignity with Style, a salon on Railroad Street in Canaan that specializes in providing wigs and accessories for […]

The Wheels On Whalen’s Buses Will Come to a Stop

Bill Whalen to continue with moving and storage business By Colleen Gundlach An agreement dated “this 14th day of August 1924 by and between J. A. Maloney…and the Town School Committee of said Town of Norfolk” inaugurated a partnership between a family and the town that has endured for more than 90 years. The partnership […]

Hardy Group Holds Outdoor Fitness Classes All Year

By David Beers A group of like-minded fitness and outdoor enthusiasts gets together twice a week in Norfolk to enjoy each other’s company and share in a healthy lifestyle. Their leader is Bill Couch. The Tuesday workout, called “Full Body Fitness,” takes place at the Congregational Church’s Battell Chapel from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. In […]