• 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

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 […]

State’s Gun Control Legislation Leaves Confusion in its Wake

Over 100 guns added to the state’s existing list of banned weapons By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo While the United States Senate voted on April 17 to defeat a compromise plan that would have banned some semi-automatic weapons and expanded background checks on firearms sales, the Connecticut legislature passed one of the toughest sets of gun […]

Eye On Town Government — May 2013

By Wiley Wood   Budget discussions this past month were led off by the Board of Selectmen, which presented its preliminary budget to the Board of Finance on April 2. Total expenditures for the town, exclusive of education, were set at $3,371,800, an increase of 4-percent or $131,550 over last year.   A number of […]

Serving Time in Connecticut

For Majewski and Carey, No Easy Road to Freedom By Susanna Wood Ten years in jail is a long time.  With two leap years that’s 3,652 days, 87,648 hours, 5,258,880 minutes. How does that time pass for inmates like Kyle Majewski and Matthew Carey, the two young men recently sentenced for a crime spree that […]

Election Officials Facing a Retirement Problem

Replacements needed to help oversee voting By Bob Bumcrot Staging local elections depends on a small cadre of Norfolk residents who supervise the polling, for which they are paid modestly, yet who keep coming back seemingly year after year. But change is in the offing. The town is looking for a few good men or […]

Are You Ready for Summer?

Norfolk Children’s Foundation Offers Camperships to Camp Jewell By Julie Scharnberg Imagine being able to spend a week or two this summer horseback riding, swimming, trying out archery or pottery, mountain boarding, rock climbing, kayaking, learning how to use high ropes or how to play the guitar, hiking, fishing, playing soccer and lots more. The […]

Preparing the Next Generation of Curlers

Botelle students learn Norfolk’s trademark game By David Beers Students in grades three through six at Botelle School have been curling at each of their gym classes for all of February and early March. After some initial instruction in curling rules, vocabulary, scoring and history of the sport, red and blue four-person teams were formed […]