• Proposed Manor House Expansion Draws Large Crowd

    Many differing views on effect of change in town center By Susan MacEachron Norfolk residents filled the Botelle School Hall of Flags on a very cold evening on Tuesday, Jan. 14, to attend the Planning & Zoning (P&Z) public hearing regarding a modification to the special permit granted in 1996 to the property known as […]

  • From All Angels

    Throughout the month of February, Garet&Co will be returning to Norfolk to present their third annual performance in the Battell Chapel, where each piece will be set in the round.  In this presentation, titled “From All Angles”, the audience will witness the translation of three of the works presented at their fall show.   “Can’t Keep […]

  • Norfolk Then

    Pictured here is the house built in 1898 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spofford as their summer home. The son of Ainsworth Spofford, Librarian of Congress, Charles Spofford was an electrical engineer, who would be hired in 1902 to manage London’s underground railway system, converting it from steam to electricity. The Spoffords engaged the architect […]

  • 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 […]

Articles

Colebrook Store Reopens

By Christopher Sinclair Prior to the shuttering of the Colebrook Store in 2007, it “had been the oldest continuously operated general store in the state of Connecticut, encompassing a span stretching from 1812 until 2007, 195 years,” according to the Colebrook Historical Society website. The store has seen countless residents pass through its doors over […]

The Lights Go Out at Great Impressions

Tenant Sought for Vacated Hair Salon By Colleen Gundlach With the closing last month of Norfolk’s only hair salon, Great Impressions, the south corner of Station Place at Route 44 looks dark. But, in the words of an old Chinese proverb, “Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Martha Pallone, owner of […]

Bill Gridley Dies After Brief Illness

William Gill Gridley, Jr. died peacefully after a brief illness Saturday, November 29 at his Norfolk home under the loving care of his family and hospice nurses and aides of the Foothills Visiting Nurses Association. Gridley was born January 10, 1929 in New York City, the son of Elizabeth Meeker and William Gill Gridley. His […]

Farmers Market Plows on Through Winter Months

Thriving from May to October for eight years strong, the Norfolk Farmers Market now has a winter presence as well. Moving inside, to the second floor of town hall, for the cold weather months, food vendors sell their products twice a month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Winter markets will be held on February […]

The Sharing Economy Comes to Norfolk

New Business Model Threatens Local Innkeeper By Wiley Wood The basic idea of the sharing economy is that if you have an asset that is not being fully used—a car that sits in the driveway, a vacant couch, a pup tent in a closet, fancy camera equipment—you can hook up through the digital world with […]

Russell Russ Records Norfolk’s Weather for the National Weather Service

Continuing an 82-Year Tradition By Colleen Gundlach There has been a lot of discussion in Norfolk about the town’s ability to keep young people here and provide them employment. There are, however, families whose contribution to the town has spanned generations and provided not only a livelihood but a way of life. The Russ family […]

The Christmas Bird Count

Citizen Scientists Make Their Mark By Susannah Wood On December 14, in the dark and cold of 4 a.m., Ray Belding is going to be in the woods calling to owls. For the next 10 hours or so he and his team will be counting every bird they see for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird […]

Economic Development Commission Readies for Action

Toby Young Named Co-Director By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Norfolk’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) has a robust agenda for 2015. Newly appointed co-director Toby Young and longtime leader Libby Borden foresee the organization having a fruitful year. At the top of the agenda is utilizing the consultant that will soon be appointed to Norfolk and seven […]

Norfolk Library Plans for the Next Century

Preserving an Architectural Gem By Ruth Melville The Norfolk Library is one of the architectural highlights of our town. For over 125 years this striking building on the Village Green has served the people of Norfolk, not only as a home for books, but as a gathering place for town residents. The library recently received […]

Norfolk Offers Dial-A-Ride Bus Service

“We’ll go anywhere people need to go” By Christopher Sinclair It’s hard to imagine, but the town of Norfolk was once a transportation hub. Conductors barked orders, and steam-driven trains came to a reluctant halt in the village center where Norfolk residents now pick up their mail and deposit their checks. People traveled with ease […]

Struggle to Maintain Town’s Aging Roadways Continues

Major Repaving of State Highways Last Summer Helped By Kurt Steele Every day most Norfolk residents drive on some part of Norfolk’s nearly 60 miles of roads—43 miles of it maintained by the town and 16 by the state. They are joined a little less often by Norfolk’s many part-time residents. Having enough money to […]

Lecture on Resilience to Climate Change

As the climate changes, species can be expected to relocate, with fauna and flora migrating at different rates. Some will survive the disruption, others not. Identifying places that will sustain a large variety of species despite changing climate, a characteristic known as “resilience,” has been a priority of conservationists in recent years. The Norfolk Land […]