• 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 […]

  • great blue heron rookeries

    working together to provide sustainable breeding habitats By Jude Mead Great Blue Herons are a familiar sight in Norfolk and are one of the largest of all North American herons, standing up to four feet tall with a wingspan of close to six feet. They are most noticeable in flight as they soar across the […]

  • Norfolk Then…

    Tennis at Town Hall? The building we know as Town Hall was originally the Eldridge Gymnasium, built in 1892. Located within easy walking distance of hotels and boarding houses in Norfolk at the turn of the last century, the Gymnasium was a popular gathering place for both residents and visitors. People played croquet on the lawn […]

  • Looking Back Over the Years

    The End of an Era for Norfolk Now By Colleen Gundlach After 10 years and over 30 issues, Ruth Melville has put on her Norfolk Now editor’s hat for the last time. In June, the paper marked the end of an era with the publication of Ruth’s final issue as one of the executive editors […]

Articles

Colebrook Store Nears Reopening

By Bob Bumcrot “Even if everything isn’t in place, we will open in July,” said Miriam Briggs, the new proprietor of the Colebrook Store. Some refreshments will certainly be available for the Independence Day long weekend. Briggs and her sons, Quentin,14, and Francis,12, frequently drove from their former home in Saint Johnsbury, Vt., to her […]

Colebrook Wind Farm in Legal Limbo

State Supreme Court decision may come in the fall By Veronica Burns BNE Energy, Inc.’s plans to build three 492-ft tall turbines on Flagg Hill Road and another three on nearby Rock Hall Road in Colebrook, Conn., are currently in an appeals holding pattern. Nicholas Harding, attorney for the plaintiffs, says he expects oral argument […]

Fundraising Underway for Restoration of the Music Shed

Norfolk Chamber Music Festival teams up with Norfolk Artists and Friends By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo Concert goers at Yale Summer School of Music and Art this summer will have the unique opportunity to purchase a chair in the music shed. A $250 donation ensures your name engraved on a metal plaque affixed to an actual […]

NORFOLK 2023! to Explore Town’s Future in Fall

Anniversary of Norfolk Now to focus on next decade  By Lloyd Garrison The editors of Norfolk Now will mark the paper’s tenth anniversary in October by inviting the town to attend NORFOLK 2023!, an event that will begin with entertaining presentations followed by a serious exploration  of  how residents would like the town to develop […]

Village Hall to Infinity

Community Landmark Celebrates 130 Years By Michael Kelly On Sunday, June 30 at 2 p.m., New York’s renowned Blue Hill Troupe will present a concert version of their highly acclaimed rendering of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta, “The Mikado”, at Infinity Hall. The concert has two purposes. One is to benefit the Norfolk Historical Society. The […]

Eye on Town Government

Marginally Higher Budget and Mill Rate Approved at Annual Town Meeting By Wiley Wood The citizens of Norfolk approved a budget at the annual town meeting on May 13. Total spending on education and general government is to rise by 1.2 percent. The mill rate is rising four hundredths of a mill to 20.22, adding […]

Brother and Sister Innkeeper Team

Norfolk’s Romantic Hideaway under New Management By Colleen Gundlach Connecticut’s “most romantic hideaway,” according to The Discerning Traveler newsletter, is under new management. Oversight of the Manor House on Maple Avenue has returned to the hands of Norfolk natives, the brother and sister team of Holly Kelsey and Michael Sinclair. Sinclair recently retired from 25 […]

Town War Monuments Illuminated

Lighting funded by Norfolk Community Association By Doreen Kelly At dusk this past Memorial Day, the Norfolk Village Green became a little brighter. The two war memorials located there are now dramatically lit as a constant reminder of the brave Norfolk men and women who have served this country. The first monument is a 24-foot […]

It’s Only Natural

Connecticut Biologists Create Habitat for the Endangered New England Cottontail By Wiley Wood “You can’t miss it. It’s a 57-acre hole in the forest,” says Paul Rothbart, a project manager with the Connecticut State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  He is giving directions to a tract of state land in Goshen that, with the […]

From Child Care to Family Care

Deanne Towle Joins Northwest Corner’s State Farm Team By Colleen Gundlach There are many different ways to help people.  For 17 years, Norfolk’s Deanne Towle cared for the town’s youngest residents while owning and operating the Norfolk Child Care Center. Today, she is caring for the children in a different way, by helping their families […]

EDC Weighs Plan for Fiber Optic Network

Local technologist sees many potential benefits to town By Kurt Steele With a strong nod to the future, Kim Maxwell briefed the town’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) at its May meeting about the benefits he foresees if Norfolk installed a community-owned fiber optic network. Maxwell is a relatively new resident of Norfolk who has degrees […]

Gourmet Meets Homestyle in Goshen

Not Just Another Roadhouse By Rosanna Trestman Lucky for us, Norfolk now has a choice of four local dining establishments. But it may come as a surprise that a fifth restaurant has been quietly tucked behind the scene all along. Located in Goshen, just a quarter of a mile west of the rotary, A.J.’s Steak […]