• 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

USA Curling Gives National Award to Mary Fanette

By Wiley Wood In December 2011, Mary Fanette was in her second and final term as president of the Norfolk Curling Club. Already on the boards of several Norfolk nonprofits and serving as the town’s volunteer webmaster, Fanette may have been looking forward to stepping down that coming May. Then the clubhouse burned to the […]

Norfolk Land Trust and Great Mountain Forest Publish Updated Trail Guides

Lace Up Your Hiking Boots By Ruth Melville Local hikers now have two new resources for exploring the Norfolk woods. Both the Norfolk Land Trust and Great Mountain Forest have recently released improved and expanded guides to hiking trails in the Norfolk area. The new, fifth edition of the Land Trust Trail Guide is the […]

The Norfolk Library Book Group

Varied books, good background info, open to all By Anne Frieze On a designated Friday approximately once a month, twenty to thirty people gather in a circle ready to discuss a book chosen by Mark Scarbrough, the facilitator of the Norfolk Library Book Group. In its fourth year, it is one of the core ongoing […]

Wooden Canoes Thrive in South Norfolk

Thomson Canoe Works Still Builds Canoes by Hand By Ruth Melville A summer job at a canoeing camp led Norfolk resident Schuyler Thomson to an unanticipated profession, and he has now been building and repairing handmade wooden canoes for over 30 years. Thomson, who grew up in Woodbury, Conn., graduated from the University of Connecticut […]

Ann Havemeyer Is New Director of Norfolk Library

On Monday, September 22, the Norfolk Library announced the appointment of Ann Havemeyer as director, starting October 1, 2014. Havemeyer, previously curator of the Library’s special collections, has served as interim director of the library since June, when she replaced Luisa Sabin-Kildiss. Havemeyer holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and is the author of several […]

Massachussetts Approves Railway Track Upgrade to Pittsfield

Campaign Hopes to Restore Passenger Rail Service from NYC By Ruth Melville On August 14, a group of about 40 residents of Litchfield County crowded into the Wandering Moose Café in West Cornwall to discuss the possibility of restoring passenger train service from Grand Central Station in New York City to northwest Connecticut and the […]

Engaging the Paradox: The Secret Corner Should Not be a Secret

Local businesses work to raise visibility By Christopher Sinclair While the verdant, ambling hills of the southern Berkshires, rife with clear streams and winding trails, receive the lion’s share of attention from people passing through or visiting, some individuals in the northwest corner are working to bring attention back to a somewhat neglected facet of […]

Housatonic Heritage Walks to Explore the Beauty and Culture of the Area

Norfolk Events Include Hikes in Great Mountain Forest and Stained Glass Windows By Ruth Melville On two weekends this fall, September 20 and 21, and October 4 and 5, Housatonic Heritage will be sponsoring its 13th annual Heritage Walks program. The walks are designed to explore the multifarious aspects—natural, cultural, historical—of the Upper Housatonic Valley. […]

Clean Energy Can Be Generated In Connecticut

By Martha Klein Connecticut gets 51% of its electricity from natural gas, and another 41% from the Millstone nuclear plant near New London. The state has 20 natural gas burning power plants bringing electricity to the grid. The one coal-burning plant, Bridgeport Harbor Generating Station, contributes a mere 1.4% to net electrical generation. The remaining […]

Lone Oak Campsites: 50 Years

The Browns of East Canaan celebrate semicentennial of family farm turned campground By Colleen Gundlach There was an air of excitement, friendship and festivity on August 16 in East Canaan as Lone Oak Campsites celebrated its 50th anniversary by throwing an all-day party for the people who have been a part of the business over […]

Cadillacs Are Good For Norfolk Business

General Motors entourage drives into town By Jonathan Barbagallo “What are all of those Cadillacs doing on Station Place?” “Why are there a lot of executives walking around town?” These questions were heard during the last week of July throughout Norfolk as a fleet of brand new 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupes descended on Station Place […]

Sauntering Across Connecticut, Stopping in Norfolk

Hartford Courant Reporter Dan Haar Explores Route 44 By Michael Kelly The Hartford Courant,founded in 1764, is celebrating its 250th anniversary and simultaneously saluting its distinction as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the country with a year-long series of events. For his part of the celebration, Courant reporter, Dan Haar, decided to walk across […]