• 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

Where the Arts and Nature Meet

By Lindsey Rotolo The new town map was completed in early April, through the hard work of the map committee — Sue Frish, Pete Anderson, Jim Nelson, Richard Byrne, Bella Erder and Hans Carlson. The map will be widely distributed by the second week of May. Berkshire Brochures will handle the distribution, ensuring the map’s […]

Renewal of Resident Trooper Contract Comes Up for Town Vote

Cost Will Depend on Results of Legislative Session By Wiley Wood Voters will face a choice at Norfolk’s town meeting on May 11 whether to renew the resident trooper contract for another two years. Under Governor Malloy’s proposed budget, the state will no longer subsidize 30 percent of the cost as in past years. If […]

Norfolk Hair Station Hits the Rails in Station Place

Eagerly awaited new hair salon opens this month By Colleen Gundlach The light that went out on Station Place last December at the closing of Great Impressions hair salon is being rekindled. Less than five months after Tammi Pavano closed her business next to the former Corner Store, a new owner has filled the empty […]

Regionalization Plan Update

State Board of Education Agrees to Recommend a 10-Year Waiver By Ruth Melville The plan to create a new regional school district for Norfolk and Colebrook got over a major obstacle on the road to referendum when the State Board of Education, rejecting the recommendation of a subcommittee, agreed to support the Regional School Study Committee’s […]

Board of Finance Aims at Tax Decrease

Town Budget Will Wait on State Decisions By Wiley Wood At a budget meeting of Norfolk’s Board of Finance, Chairman Michael Sconyers reviewed the town’s spending projections for 2015-2016, snipping away a few thousand here and a few thousand there, in the end reducing the selectmen’s proposal by $70,000. “I’m desperate to do a tax […]

Foundation for Norfolk Living Gets Big Affordable Housing Grant

New Units May Be Ready Next Spring By Nina Ritson The Foundation for Norfolk Living has been working and planning for several years to secure space in which to provide affordable housing in Norfolk.  On March 26, their efforts received a huge boost when Governor Malloy and the Connecticut Department of Housing (DOH) announced funding […]

Drones Over Norfolk, at Work and at Play

By Wiley Wood You can’t just fly one straight out of the box, says drone hobbyist Christopher Little, you have to expect to crash a few times when you start out. But the technology to send a guided, camera-carrying drone into the airspace above your backyard is firmly within reach of the civilian consumer. Little, […]

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 […]