• 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

Town Taxes and Spending Climb Slightly

Mill Rate to Rise 10 Percent By Wiley Wood The Board of Finance met twice in April to set Norfolk’s budget for 2014-2015, in advance of the annual budget hearing and town meeting. The town expects to raise $6,634,114 in taxes, an increase of $350,141 over last year, or 6 percent. “The mill rate’s going […]

Out and About

Not your Average Run Of the Mill By Rosanna Trestman Every piece of lumber begins as a log. Typically, the log goes from forest to sawmill, and comes out a plank cut to a uniform width, length and height. But at Berkshire Products, a sawmill tucked on Ashley Falls Road in Sheffield, Mass., the log’s […]

Veteran Editor to Join Norfolk Now

Ruth Melville has spent 40 years helping bringing books to life By Lloyd Garrison Last year, when Ruth Melville began showing up at Norfolk Now story conferences and volunteered to write for the paper, the editors were unaware of a true pro in their midst. Not only could she write, but she was a seasoned […]

Edward Machowski is Norfolk’s Resident Waterways Expert

By Colleen Gundlach Norfolk has a very environmentally aware population. From the Norfolk Land Trust to the Conservation Commission, people here know the importance of taking care of what they have been given. One of the townís most knowledgeable residents in the realm of protecting waterways and the fish that inhabit them, is biologist Edward […]

The Colebrook Store Goes Out of Business

A Revolving Door By Bob Bumcrot After only nine months of operation, the Colebrook Store closed its doors at the end of March due to significant management differences between the owners of the building, the Colebrook Preservation Society (CPS), and the store operator, Miriam Briggs. Briggs, who lives above the store with her sons Quentin, […]

Touring Musician Posts Norfolk Video Online

  While in Norfolk on February 27 to play a concert at Infinity Hall, folk musician Brett Dennen wandered the downtown area and made a short video, which has recently been posted to YouTube. In it he comments drolly on the nonexistent rush-hour traffic, the overly solicitous signs and the friendliness of the locals—who remained […]

Rosemary Gill Reads Dorothy Parker

As the audience drifted into the Norfolk Library on Saturday, April 5, they were directed to the reference room, where a gleaming tray of martinis greeted them. The story on offer that evening, “Here We Are,” was written by the Algonquin Round Table stalwart Dorothy Parker in 1931, a time when it was not unusual […]

Eye on Town Government

By Wiley Wood At the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting on April 1, 2014, a letter from a Norfolk resident prompted a discussion of crime prevention. First Selectman Sue Dyer had investigated the possibility of hiring a constable to help the resident trooper with his duties. Her research revealed that the town would have to […]

Plan to Fight Homelessness in NW CT

Everyone needs safe place to call home By Ruth Melville Rural homelessness may not be as visible as urban homelessness, but that does not make it less real or less painful. A 2011 point-in-time count suggests that on any given night over 150 people in the Northwest Corner are homeless, and the percentage of those […]

Norfolk Land Trust Earns Accreditation

 National Recognition of Excellence   In February, the Norfolk Land Trust (NLT) received its accreditation from the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). One of only 254 land trusts across the country that are currently accredited, the NLT is authorized to display a seal indicating to the […]

Norfolk Real Estate Officially Loses 9 Percent of Value in Last Five Years

Town Budget Likely to Remain Flat But Tax Rate Will Rise Slightly   By Wiley Wood Property in Norfolk is appraised every five years in keeping with state law, and the latest results are in, according to Assessor Michele Sloane. The grand list has lost about 4.6 percent of its value overall, with real estate […]

Digital Norfolk Council Formed

Fiber Optic Has Potential to Attract New Norfolk Residents   By Kurt Steele Kim Maxwell, a Norfolk resident who has been involved in a number of communications businesses, has been talking since last spring with town leaders and residents about the benefits of Norfolk building its own fiber optic high-speed system. “If fiber high-speed services […]