• 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

Robin Hood Radio & TV

Navigating The Sherwood Forest of Public Access   By Colleen Gundlach In Norfolk, tuning in to Channel 6 on cable television brings an array of locally produced programs, from a Botelle Board of Education meeting to a Salisbury zoning meeting to the daily Morning Show simulcast from WHDD in Sharon. Formally titled Community Access Television […]

Norfolk Foundation Plans Two-Building Project

Downtown Will Get Six Affordable Apartments   By Bob Bumcrot The Foundation for Norfolk Living is moving forward with plans to purchase two houses and convert them into affordable apartments. The houses, at 40 and 46 Greenwoods Road, sit next to the town meadow.   “We have options to purchase these adjacent homes,” said Lou […]

College Scholarships Available

The Norfolk Connecticut Children’s Foundation offers college scholarships to high school seniors who are Norfolk residents.  Completed applications are due by no later than May 15, 2014.  The application form is available on the NCCF website (www.norfolkchildren.com – “Apply For a Grant” tab).  If you have questions or need additional information, please contact any board member.

The Botelle Beat

Community Volunteers and a Winter Concert Enliven Winter Term   By Ann DeCerbo On Wednesday, February 5, Botelle School participated in the statewide Read Aloud Day. An annual event sponsored by the NW Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Read Aloud Day stresses the importance of reading to elementary school students. Botelle Curriculum Coordinator Rachel Incillo recruited […]

Norfolk a Prime Target in Drug-Related Break-ins

Resident Trooper Greg Naylor warns the rise in crime here has become epidemic By Lloyd Garrison There has been a notable increase in criminal activity in and around  Norfolk since the last issue of Norfolk Now featured the arrest of Christopher Goodall. Goodall, who said he was suffering from pain pill withdrawal, confessed to stealing […]

Work on Regionalization Study Advances

Botelle Building Judged Big Enough for Both Towns By Wiley Wood As members of the citizens’ group studying regionalization examined the floor plan of the Botelle School during a public meeting in mid-December, they quickly reached the conclusion that there would be enough room in the building for all Norfolk and Colebrook primary-schoolers. The combined […]

Winter Birds

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Most of us, at one point or another, question why we stay in the Icebox of Connecticut throughout the winter months, but do you ever wonder why the birds do? When observing a little black-capped chickadee chipping away at a backyard feeder with four inches of snow on it, do you […]

Barbara Spiegel Named Person of the Year

By Ruth Melville To honor Norfolk resident Barbara Spiegel’s leadership in caring for victims of domestic and sexual abuse in Litchfield County and for helping Torrington emerge from a widely-publicized alleged rape scandal with a better understanding of the issue, The Register Citizen named Spiegel their 2013 Person of the Year. Spiegel grew up in […]

Copper Downspout Thefts Solved With Two Arrests

One of the accused was from Winsted, the other from Norfolk By Lloyd Garrison It was nine months ago in January that John Hester, who oversees the Battell Stoeckel estate and the Yale summer music and arts campus, phoned Barracks B in Canaan after fresh tire tracks in the snow led him to spot missing […]

Habitat for Humanity House Completed

Built in a year of Saturdays By Wiley Wood A year ago, it was just a hole in the ground. The long-vacant lot on Hillside Street was bought by Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut in 2009, but there was still nothing more on it than the remains of an earlier cellar hole. Today, a […]

Moose Hit by Car on Rte. 44—Police Offer Animal to Homeowner

The Bascetta family receive 200 pounds of meat By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo In the early morning hours of September 29, Brendan Tallon, 21, was driving home from Hartford with a friend from college. Less than two miles from their destination, the Norwich University students were startled to see a moose standing in the middle of […]

Norfolk Gets First New Selectman in 10 Years

Josh DeCerbo is now on Board By Bob Bumcrot For the first time in a decade the Norfolk Board of Selectmen has a new member. In the November 5 election, Josh DeCerbo was chosen to replace retiring Selectman James J. Stotler, Sr. Raised in Wallingford, Conn., DeCerbo came to Norfolk about ten years ago. “I’ve […]