• Work to Resume on Route 44 and New Firehouse

    Warmer temps ensure concrete quality By Avice Meehan Two significant Norfolk projects that were put on hold because of below-zero temperatures this winter are expected to resume by mid-March: Reconstruction of two retaining walls along Route 44 and the construction of a new firehouse for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department. Engineers for the state Department […]

  • Richard Byrne Retires as Active Firefighter

    After 58 years, veteran status By Joseph Kelly He was a young Navy veteran, about to be married and ready to start a family in his hometown when, in February 1968, his older brother convinced him to join the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD). For Richard Byrne it was the start of an association that […]

  • Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus Will Benefit Local Food Banks

    Three Grammy nominees to perform at Infinity Hall By Colleen Gundlach On April 11, Infinity Hall will be the setting for Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus, a concert that will benefit Stock the Shelves, an outreach of United Way of Northwestern Connecticut. The Rock ‘n Roll House Party Circus will feature three Grammy nominees […]

  • Rom-Com Curling Film Released With Olympics

    To get the ice just right, filmmakers tapped Norfolk expertise By Joseph Kelly The underdogs who battle the odds—the washed-up boxer, the outclassed football team, the aging baseball slugger with one last homerun in him—are all Hollywood standbys. Ronald Reagan may be remembered as much for “win one for the Gipper” as he is for […]

  • How Botelle (Carefully) Uses AI for Learning

    By Avice Meehan For more than three decades, children visited the fictional town of Frog Creek, Penn., home to two children named Jack and Annie. With the help of a magic tree house, the pair are whisked away to distant places where they have adventures, solve problems and, perhaps, learn a thing or two. Like […]

  • Choral Singing Meets Bluegrass

    LCCU welcomes all ages to sing new styles By Andra Moss The Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) is entering its 127th concert year with decidedly youthful energy. Under the direction of Music Director Dr. Gabriel Löfvall, the LCCU will convene a youth choral festival in Norfolk in late spring; offer a series of choral seminars […]

  • Winter Weekend In Norfolk

    It was a cold and blustery weekend, but that didn’t stop the hardy from coming out on Feb. 21 and 22 for Winter WIN, the weekend for enjoying all things Norfolk in the winter season. The photos below show a story of a town that came together to strut its stuff for the world to […]

  • From Freeze to Flow: Extreme Temps and the Maple Syrup Season

    Reaching that ideal mix of natural conditions By Jude Mead The extreme cold and heavy snowfall this season has raised some concern among maple syrup producers. Reports of loud, cracking noises in wooded areas have set the stage for a phenomenon called “frost cracking.” During these periods of intense cold, the water and sap inside […]

  • Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale

    With Jude Mead at the guitar and with great enthusiasm, members of the Isabella Eldridge Club defied a threatened winter storm and entered Battell Chapel on Feb. 10 for a memorable performance of an episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” a daft 1960s television comedy. Despite the best efforts of the Professor (played by Marinell Crippen, left) […]

  • Cook For Goodness Sake

    America The Melting Pot By Linda Garrettson In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, it seems appropriate to dedicate my food column this year to America, who we are, and what we eat. Get ready for some history lessons, and perhaps surprises that might enlighten you to what we call American […]

  • Be Careful, Very Careful

    An expert team from the Glass Source Stained Glass Studio spent nearly six hours in cold mid-January weather care-fully removing a cathedral stained glass window from Battell Chapel at the United Church of Christ before transporting it to their studio in Seymour for restoration. In this photo, Michael Skrtic balances one section of the window […]

  • The Week that Was

    First, frigid temperatures forced the relocation of Norfolk’s valiant Post Office staff to Winsted because of scheduled asbestos remediation, leaving box holders temporarily puzzled. Then, the big snow arrived on Jan. 25 and 26. Estimates vary widely: Russell Russ reported the official tally at the Great Mountain Forest weather station as 15.2 inches, but others […]

Articles

Norfolk Resident Bob Gilchrest Guides Redesign of Falls Village

New Paving and Lights Make Main Street Safer for Pedestrians   By Ruth Melville   Thanks in large part to the efforts of Norfolk resident Bob Gilchrest, the town of Falls Village has a newly redone town center, designed to be both safer and more attractive. The Falls Village project was instigated by safety concerns. […]

Photographing a Long and Winding Road

Route 22 North   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Part-time Norfolk resident Rick Schatzberg was interested in photography as a collector for decades, but didn’t start taking photos himself until five years ago. He spends a lot of time on a bicycle, in Brooklyn, where he and his wife, Marilyn, also have a home, and in […]

United Coalition of Northwest Connecticut Combats Drug Abuse

  By Colleen Gundlach Drug addiction is a problem that knows no class. It affects the rich as well as the poor; the educated and the illiterate; the mentally ill and the healthy. It is a growing problem in Connecticut, where 306 citizens died from heroin overdose in 2014—that’s triple the rate from 2012. Several […]

A Family Effort for the Win

Racing Champion in Our Midst   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo One should never question a parent’s intuition about their child. Keith Goring, who has run Alfas Unlimited, Inc. on Greenwoods Road for 40 years, knew that his son was meant to be a race car driver long before the kid even had a license. Jonathan […]

Wind Turbines in Colebrook Start Up

Ribbon cutting ceremony held on Flagg Hill site   By Wiley Wood On the clear blue morning of October 15, the vanes of BNE Energy’s wind turbine No. 2 faced motionless into a moderate breeze from the northwest. A small crowd of company executives, state legislators, bankers and regulators gathered on the hilltop above Flagg […]

Going Electric in Colebrook

A Carbon Negative Family   By David Beers The Eckert family in Colebrook is more than just carbon neutral, they are carbon negative. Instead of paying for energy, they are making money from the energy that they produce at their home. Bill Eckert, a C.P.A. and retired software company executive, has been keeping detailed records […]

Obituary–Bruce Hanke

  Surrounded by family and close friends, Bruce Hanke left this world on Monday, October 12 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born at Plunkett Memorial Hospital in Adams, Mass. on November 3, 1958 to William and Mildred (Kryston) Hanke. Growing up on East Road in Adams, next to his grandmother’s farm, Hanke spent summers and […]

It’s Only Natural—November 2015

Abandoned Charcoal Hearths Affect Today’s Forest Ecology   Hans M. Carlson Recently, we got our first dusting of snow. When it’s not enough to cover the ground completely, the darker fallen leaves poke up through the veil of white, and small contours on the ground appear. The contrast highlights slight topographical variations, particularly with the […]

Documentary Film Describes Norfolk

Local photographer premiers film at Norfolk Library   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo The prolific photographer and writer Christopher Little delighted hundreds of Norfolkians last month with his 40-minute documentary chronicling a year in the life of our town. Showings at the Norfolk Country Club and the Norfolk Library packed the respective houses. Over 400 people […]

Matt Riiska Challenges Sue Dyer at Ballot Box on Nov. 13

Unaffiliated candidate takes on Democratic incumbent   By Wiley Wood The first selectman position in Norfolk will be contested in this year’s election for the first time since 2009. Matt Riiska is running as an unaffiliated candidate against Sue Dyer, the Democratic incumbent. The Republican Party did not field a candidate. Riiska, 59, was born […]

New Resident Brings Age-Old Craft to Town

Carving Stone: Adam Paul Heller   By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo “I wish I was a slave to an age-old trade…” begins “Down in the Valley”, a song by the indie folk band The Head & the Heart. The song expresses a deep yearning to get back to your roots, and lead a more primitive existence. In […]

Norfolk’s Multi-Generational Business

MI Integrated Media   By Christina Vanderlip  MI Integrated Media (MI) specializes in direct response advertising, meaning ads with a ‘call to action’. While they are known for creative small space sections in the back of national magazines, they also run full-page advertising campaigns for clients. MI partners advertisers with publications that best fit their […]