• 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

Norfolk’s Silent Sentinels

Everything You Need to Know About Utility Poles By John G. Funchion There are 2,153 utility poles in Norfolk. These poles, standing as silent sentinels for years on our roadsides, provide us with all the amenities of modern living: electricity, cable television and internet access. Utility poles were first used above ground in the 19th century […]

ZONE 4

Mounting a Counter Offensive on Invasive Species By Susannah Wood Like most of us living in the Icebox of Connecticut, I greet the first signs of spring with a surge of relief and delight at the first sight of the branch tips of the red maples beginning to color, that first phoebe singing outside our […]

Norfolk Conservation Commission to Offer Ornamental Plant Exchange

Once again, the Conservation Commission is offering a free native plant to residents who take out an invasive ornamental. Bring proof of removal to the Farmers Market on June 15, and pick out a lovely native shrub to replace it. The invasive species we are looking to replace are winged euonymus (burning bush), autumn olive, […]

Regionalization Study Committee Chooses Consultant

Town Involvement Expected in Study Process By Wiley Wood On Wednesday, May 29, the Norfolk-Colebrook Study Committee met to choose a consultant. After hearing two presentations, the committee decided to hire Education Connection to shepherd them through the process. Based in Litchfield, Conn., the organization is the Regional Education Service Center for western Connecticut and […]

Norfolk’s Proposed Budget Up 1 Percent

By Wiley Wood On April 29, the Norfolk Board of Finance presented its budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 to a smattering of Norfolk residents at the Botelle School. The board’s chairman, Michael Sconyers, announced a total increase over last year’s budget of less than 1 percent, translating to a mill rate of 20.22, a bump […]

Vocal Music – A Norfolk Tradition

By Rosanna Trestman Norfolk will be singing this summer when the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival season opens with a concert by the Yale Choral Artists, a new 24-voice chorus of professional singers from around the U.S. It will be directed by Jeffrey Douma, who also directs the Yale Glee Club, and will perform Rachmaninov’s “All […]

Wood Creek Bridge On 272 Under Repair

Construction could end by fall By Bob Bumcrot The bridge across Wood Creek at the intersection of routes 44 and 272 next to Memorial Green is being rebuilt by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The bridge surface itself will be removed, one side at a time, and replaced with concrete and paving. Much of the […]

New Signage Planned For Norfolk

Two new signs at either end of town on Route 44 will welcome cyclists, motorists and the occasional pedestrian to Norfolk. The design, featuring an arch with a hanging signboard and the date of Norfolk’s founding, was recently approved by the Board of Selectmen. The cost of fabrication and installation will be underwritten by a […]

A Globe-trotting Entrepreneur Loves Norfolk But Laments Lack of Broadband

Leaving Manhattan’s Noise Behind By Lloyd Garrison Running an internet-based business from Norfolk isn’t that unusual these days. In fact, Bryan Stanton has been running a worldwide marketing and public relations business from Norfolk since 1997. “From the agency’s founding 20 years prior, clients were always more foreign than domestic,” he explained, “as our expertise […]

State and BNE Energy Sued For Canaan Mountain Clear-cut

Star Childs charges DEEP decision in case a “rip-off” By Veronica Burns In December 2010, a brief article in the Hartford Courant alleged that there had been a non-permissible clear-cutting of trees on State-owned land on Canaan Mountain. The article seemed to mark the end of it. Now, three years later, the Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council […]

School and Library Collaborate

Appreciating The Arts Through Thinking, Analyzing and Discussing By Colleen Gundlach Exposure to the arts has always been a big part of life in Norfolk. Now, as a result of a unique collaboration between Botelle School and the Norfolk Library, the town’s children will have access to fun and learning at the same time. Ann DeCerbo, coordinator […]

FIRST ALERT

Town to Alert Households of Major Emergencies —Emails to residents will aid in crisis management By Lloyd Garrison Norfolk is preparing a “First Alert” system using email to inform homeowners of any threats related to weather, road conditions, public health and personal security. Shortly, the town’s 852 households will get a letter from First Selectman […]